Grace Mateo – Ways of the World

 

WAYS OF THE WORLD is a group of collages based on encompassing issues – sleeplessness, pain, beauty standards, false idols, the future, destruction, love, and truth.

 

I was gifted a large amount of magazines and books and decided to make collages as self-art-therapy. I also had some old children’s books and pamphlets from the 70s in my paper stash. I sat down and just began picking images, letting them tell me a story.  As one image would speak to me I was then able to construct an scene, a story, or an idea.

 

I wanted to play with images of pop culture and false ideals – like subtly using Jennifer Lawrence in the Why Does the Caged Bird Sing? piece or alternatively-formed people for the Adam and Eve piece. We’re always taught about perfection in society; how to act, how to look, how to speak, and how to exist, but we are never taught about the beauty of variety – that what is “ugly” is actually beautiful, and we all have to capacity to see past the surface if we open our eyes a little wider.

 

Bio:

Grace Mateo was born in 1982 in Brooklyn, New York. She currently resides and works in Brooklyn. She sought to develop her skills through both intensive personal studies and at educational institutions. Grace is constantly seeking and discovering new approaches to her work with different mediums. She often addresses socio-economic content or mental and physical health issues in her work. Through art Grace seeks to create an exchange and understanding between herself and the viewer and introduces a space for discussing and celebrating our similarities as well as our differences.