Biography

Matt Mason was born in San Mateo, CA in 1981. His interest in the visual arts took hold at an early age. Drawing, painting and sculpting eventually led him to pursue a BFA from the Ringling College of Art and Design and a Post-baccalaureate from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

After graduating, Mason set out to hone his skills as an artist by studying art history in the museums of Europe and America. Inspired by the colorful culture, he eventually settled down in Austin, Texas where he continues to reside.

As of March 2020, Mason has set out to learn a variety of 3d software packages to pursue a career in modeling and concept art. In addition to the Adobe Creative suite (specifically Photoshop and Illustrator), Mason has added Maya, Zbrush, Substance Painter and Blender to his repertoire. Traditional media still plays a crucial role in the creation pipeline, but moving forward the focus will be on digital media and applying its process to new work.

Statement from 

the Artist

My works on paper, paintings, ballpoint pen and pencil drawings, are more or less representations of our inner selves. Totemic animals… dressed in bone and armor, whimsical characters shining their happiness… mythological entities living their archetypal stories. As a result my work usually starts from a very quiet and serene place in my thoughts; it is extremely detailed, drawn and redrawn, sculpted and refined. It is this methodological nature to my process that calms the mind and acts as a meditative outlet to express my personal ideology. The result is art that enables me to better understand myself and my world. I create to bring forth consciousness, to give thought form and have those forms resonate and enlighten.

I draw inspiration by living in a city that fosters the development of spirit and self, and practicing in a studio rich with depictions of eastern philosophy, skeletons, and vintage toys. Over the past four years I have been heavily influenced by tattoo culture, the dark paintings and etchings of Francisco Goya, the sculptures of Kris Kuksi, Jessica Joslin, Chris Ryniak, religious art (specifically tibetan), world mythology, anything Guillermo Del Toro spits out... and the art movements of the early 20th century.

Often ornate, iconic, regal and sometimes grotesque, the pieces that I  now make can range between delicately penciled drawings of animals adorned in ornate transparent armor and bone, ballpoint pen illustrations of regal creatures, full size paintings and sculptural busts of animal deities.

 Art in general has always been a factor in my sanity, it has fueled my life and affected every major decision I have ever had to make. I believe that art has changed me for the better. If something can do that for me then it is my duty as an artist to inspire that same change in others.