I depict life frankly and critically, as visual surfaces and interior qualities. Instead of verisimilitude, I strive to discover and capture what is hidden, emphasizing the implicit and the unspoken. My recent work evokes moody atmosphere and forlorn emotions in desolate landscapes, some haunted by cryptic figures.
Over time, I have moved away from purely representational work, leaning into shifts of pattern, color, tone, and shape. I tend toward a limited palette and record the world in a muted light; yet sometimes use more vibrant colors to express enhanced emotions, or allow more exuberant colors to generate a dimension of visual excitement, acknowledging that joy remains, however grim the world may be.
— Matthew Felix Sun
