Matthew Amos

Artist Statement

My work explores the complexities of places. I investigate how places are shaped by their physical characteristics, the built environment and social interactions. My work is deeply influenced by psychogeography. Coined by Marxist theorist Guy Debord in the 1950s, it is concerned with how interactions with urban environments shape our emotions and behaviours.

I chart the intersection of place, memory and connection, often transforming overlooked details of everyday surroundings. I investigate how we form relationships with places, inviting viewers to consider how lived in spaces become the foundation for shared experiences and memory. I define my practice as interdisciplinary; working across a range of media including painting, collage, print and drawing to capture a location’s genius loci (spirit of a place).

Recently, I have used my experience of exploring the suburban neighbourhood where I grew up and documentary photographs as a starting point for a series of drawings and paintings. I turn my observations into works that highlight the tension between the comfortable, the curated and the mundane. I present a range of familiar subjects: post-war housing estates, a corner shop and takeaway restaurants to investigate the visual language and hidden charm of suburbia. The works aim to be uncanny, nostalgic and seek beauty in the everyday.