Single Mother (Divided)
- Matthew Angelo Harrison, American, 1989
- Born: Detroit, MI
Matthew Angelo Harrison, Single Mother (Divided), 2021. Vintage jacket, polyurethane resin, stainless steel, anodized aluminum; 30 3/4 x 63 3/4 x 27 in. Denver Art Museum: Funds, by exchange, from Jacqueline Paley Wolber’s bequest and Kimiko and John Powers, 2021.422. © Matthew Angelo Harrison. Image © and courtesy Jessica Silverman Gallery
Matthew Angelo Harrison is an American sculptor living and working in Detroit, Michigan. Drawing on his interests in technology and manufacturing, he creates works that explore ancestry, authenticity, and cultural identity. While Harrison works with 3-D printing and other technologies, the sculptures for which he is most well-known are his encapsulations in which he utilizes resin to envelop objects—initially those include African sculptural artifacts sourced from the secondary market.
Similar to his earlier encapsulations, the objects appear almost fossilized; however, Harrison begun using more personal mementos from his mother and her friends in the “Dark Silhouette” series with items such as gloves, clothing, and signs from the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. Harrison has a strong connection to the automotive industry in Detroit as his mother worked at the UAW, and because Harrison worked for three years in the design department at Ford Motors. Single Mother (Divided) is arguably one of the most important works in the series because it marks several firsts for the artist, and it bears significant personal and historical meaning. The work includes the first piece of clothing that he has encapsulated in resin, the first time he has utilized a United Auto Workers object in his work, and it is his largest encapsulation to date—in terms of density of the resin itself. Single Mother (Divided)’s layered carving and almost circular gestural shattering of the resin reflects Harrison’s deep introspection of his past. He describes the shape as though it is the result of a tornado striking the work. While Harrison often explains that his art engages the history of the prototype in Detroit as being intrinsic to the way he makes his work, he also explores new ways to visually connect, acknowledge, and celebrate his relationship to Detroit and to his mother.
- Kuntsthalle Basel, "Matthew Angelo Harrison: Proto" June 4, 2021 - September 26, 2021.
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