Matisse and Contemporary Paper Artists – Rheged Gallery, Penrith

I was delighted to be invited to make two original pieces for the Summer Show at the Rheged Centre, Penrith – a group show of 40 leading Paper Artists alongside the Hayward Gallery Touring Show of Matisse’s late works, “Drawing with Scissors”

My two pieces, Phyllotaxis 2.1 and Tetrataxis are both inspired by the Fibonacci sequence often found in nature which gives the pieces a mesmerising, almost hypnotic effect.

It had been an ambition of about 6 years to work out how to construct a piece like Phyllotaxis 2.1 which is built from over 750 individually folded paper pyramids painstakingly assembled on a 120cm backboard in a precise and mathematically defined order.

The invitation to make these works for the show came in the perfect time as I am finally, after almost 20 years in the commercial space, giving myself more time to work on my own art practice.

For more information or to follow my progress, please do see my Instagram at www.instagram.com/michaeljtrew.

Feel free to reach out if you’re interested in prints/commissioned work in this style.