Louisa Mattson - Artist Statement
I love seeing the play of light and the beauty of ordinary things and I strive to convey these in my paintings. Currently in my artistic journey I enjoy pushing color and playing with greater abstraction while still depicting the real world. In particular I enjoy the interplay between organic shapes and geometric patterns and keep on being drawn to flowers as a subject because they allow for imaginative colors and shapes.
I enjoy working in pastel, as well as acrylic and collage. Pastels are my first passion. I love them because of their vibrancy and immediacy. Whenever I look at my box of pastels, I just want to inhale all the beautiful colors! (In reality, not a good idea!) Pastels are also the most direct painting medium to work with, as you get to hold the sticks of pigment right in your fingers.
This past year I started to explore acrylics for the first time and am enjoying their versatility; I especially like the creative possibilities afforded by combining acrylic paint with homemade collage papers.
Last but not least, I love the fact that pastels and acrylics are both very forgiving mediums: You can change almost any mark that doesn’t feel right just by putting on another layer or scraping one off.
When not doing art, I have a small energy medicine and energy psychology practice in Concord, MA. As a clinical psychologist I worked for many years in corporate career management and psychotherapy. I am really intrigued by how practicing art is not only soul-satisfying but also pushes me to grow as a person.