Creativity

Matt Connors
KM Window, 2024

There are so many ways to think about self expression, identity, sense of self, and how we see. I am an advocate for the most expansive way to do all of these things! I find within possibility, a special openness and way to see and think and be that feels expensive, celebratory, and hopeful. Not too long ago I listened to a presentation from a leading scholar on tyranny, in fact that’s the title of one of his books! He was talking about the one thing that prevents tyranny, which is freedom. And he was arguing that art promotes and protects freedom. He drew a direct line between artists and the protection against the unthinkable.

Matt Connors is a masterful and diverse painter. Absent a visual style, he creates paintings in which the space is held by forms, shapes, and color. While formal composition often seems like a simplistic method of analysis of contemporary imagery, I think analyzing what we see is a way to ground and know. Today, as I write this text, I chose my outfit with a simple, reductive palette and a pop of color all with an eye toward what I might want to communicate: being creative is productive. We know that with awareness comes choice and by choosing to be creative, we help protect freedom and frankly, I’m not sure what might matter more.