recent work
These works encapsulate my recent experiences, paintings that are rooted in place.
Two years ago, my family and I moved from the Midwest. Our home was in Sioux Center, Iowa, in one of the leading industrial agricultural counties in the United States. There, 97% of the landscape is farmland, dominated by corn, soybeans, and animals – 8 million chickens, 1 million hogs, and 400,000 cows.
A move to the Southwest has then brought a dramatic shift to that sense of place.
Now at home in Silver City, New Mexico, the Gila National Forest and Wilderness blankets us with over 3 million acres of expansive ranges, hills, and mountains. As my family and I wander around these environs, we are delighted by new and complex encounters – a Cane Cholla or Rufous Hummingbird – encounters in this case, along the Gila National Forest - Little Walnut’s Dragon Trail.
These paintings then suggest a growing awareness of the Southwest’s striking intricacies.
Two years ago, my family and I moved from the Midwest. Our home was in Sioux Center, Iowa, in one of the leading industrial agricultural counties in the United States. There, 97% of the landscape is farmland, dominated by corn, soybeans, and animals – 8 million chickens, 1 million hogs, and 400,000 cows.
A move to the Southwest has then brought a dramatic shift to that sense of place.
Now at home in Silver City, New Mexico, the Gila National Forest and Wilderness blankets us with over 3 million acres of expansive ranges, hills, and mountains. As my family and I wander around these environs, we are delighted by new and complex encounters – a Cane Cholla or Rufous Hummingbird – encounters in this case, along the Gila National Forest - Little Walnut’s Dragon Trail.
These paintings then suggest a growing awareness of the Southwest’s striking intricacies.
© 2025 Matt Drissell. All Rights Reserved.
