June 6th | First Friday Event: Art, exploration mix in show of paintings

Miller N. Resor | Jackson Hole News & Guide

If Matt Flint had not become an artists, he would have liked to be an explorer. In a way, he is both. "I am constantly experimenting with different ways to get paint on the surface," Flint said of his semi-abstract work. "I like to give myself as much opening as I can to experiment."

At 5:30 p.m. on Friday, the public is invited to the opening of Flint's show, "Lost and Found," and other First Friday festivities at Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary. Flint will attend and plans to speak at 6 p.m.

He sees his work as a "process contained," not just a finished piece. "My paintings are about isolation and transformation," he said. "They have this history underneath," he said. "There is never one that stays the same, if you X-ray them, you would see things moved about. They are always changing."

In his paintings, he mixes layers of earthy oil paint with collages of old maps and pictures of arctic explores. Images of plants, birds, deer and horses emerge from weathered backgrounds. There is an aged, historic feel to his paintings, and a touch of scientific curiosity seen through the blurred surrealism of a dream.

The lone artists in a family of scientists, Flint said he has always had dueling interest between science and art. As a child, on a self-sustaining farm in Missouri, he liked the aesthetics of things under a microscope. "I think a lot of that comes out in the mark making and some of the underlying stuff in my paintings," he said.

In high school, Flint decided to study art. He received his bachelor of fine arts from Central Missouri State in 1994, working after he graduated as a freelance illustrator and continuing to pursue studio work on his own time.

Motivated by a desire for more studio time for his personal projects, he returned to Wichita State University to attain his master of fine arts degree. Flint thinks that in the modern age of digital perfection, there is a demand for evidence of the artist's hand, for intimate connections and personal discoveries.

Flint now lives in Lander, where he explores nature and teaches art at Central Wyoming College.