Matt Wilde
Painting
“With only one week in the year spent in St Ives if I’m lucky, that week gives me a sense of freedom and happiness. I can breathe easily, take in my surroundings, visit the galleries and make the most of every minute I am there. As I started work on this collection, the world and life changed for us all. I found myself immersed in this work more than I had imagined, perhaps as a way of escapism, to remain positive, and feel as though I was still connected with the place I miss the most.”
Matt Wilde graduated with a Fine Art degree from Liverpool John Moore’s University in 1998. He works with mixed media, acrylic, oils, charcoal and experimental mediums to create lively and deeply characterful paintings, which capture the spirit and humanity of ‘place’. His love of Cornwall, and St Ives in particular, began with a family holiday. This new collection is his very first to be inspired by years of visiting St Ives from his home in Warrington, Cheshire. As such, it gives a perfect insight into the way both holiday visitors and residents experience this wonderful seaside town.