Matthew Lutz, aritst

2001

This short series of oils on canvas and digital images (Danny Lee series) examines my father's life at a critical moment—his years in Vietnam. After reviewing his slides, creating a number of drawings and digital images, I painted portraits and then overlaid them with images of stem cells. The solders, like the stem cells, embodied potential. The men in the paintings were making decisions that would impact who they were for the rest of their lives, balanced against the odds of staying alive for one more day.

These works were transitional, and split in two directions, influencing the nature of two series that followed: the portraits chronicle my life as it has been touched by other people, and the shadow series assesses the impact that my own experiences have had on me.