Anna VanMatre was born in Poland and educated at the Krakow Art High School and the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts where she received her Masters Degree. She has been credited with developing techniques utilizing graphite on three-dimensional paper and creating monumental graphite paintings, many 10 to 20 feet high. From 1979-2003 she created cycles of black and white works entitled CLOUDY LANDSCAPE, TURBULENT TIMES, NO, HABITAT, SPACES and LIMITS. In 1996 she started a new cycle of graphite paintings called HOPE IN BLUE which added color for the first time. From 1998-2003 she developed 7-panel sequential works called Metamorphoses-Water and Metamorphoses-Fire. The titles refer to the presence of cyclical elements and procedures forming a single movement with constant contrasts and changes. At the same time, she began composing small collages in a new cycle called BEYOND THE EARTH CURTAINS and for the previous cycles NO and TURBULENT TIMES. 2003 and 2004 marked the introduction of the installations In Time In Between-Smoke and In Time In Between-Volcano containing large layered forms with intricate and dramatic shadow effects. In 2005 her new cycle LINES ABOVE featured vibrational objects in graphite on synthetic paper, three-color silkscreen on glass, and black and white lithography. Another cycle in 2005, CITIES from the series Autobiography, features 18 different images of the sky above various cities. This project is more conceptual than others, while still focusing on a similar subject: capturing the spontaneity of nature in clouds. In 2006 her cycle PRIMARY COLORS utilized intricate drawing techniques, silkscreen on glass, collage materials like textured paper and foil, and color-layering. It is a series of three-dimensional works evoking a magnified view of the world above the horizon. The "primary" essence is inherent not just in the interplay of the three basic colors. Drawing has always been the most primary medium and provides a direct reflection of the emotions of an artist's vision and the spontaneity of the hand. By combining this Zen-calligraphic stream-of-consciousness approach with the spatial ambiguity of the glass reflections, she has heightened the tension between abstraction and reality. DENSITY ABOVE, created in 2006, is a group of paintings based on observations of rocks formations in Sedona, Arizona and New York City, Central Park. Her most recent cycle OPEN, unites sea and sky in perhaps most expansive of all her nature-based themes. By focusing on the lack of boundaries between water and air and their endless upward and downward reach, the viewer is asked to reconsider all self constructed barriers. Ms.VanMatre's most recent series, DENATURAL DISASTER, focuses on the devastation created by Humankind and/or Nature.

Anna VanMatre’s works have been presented in exhibitions throughout Europe, Israel, Africa, and the U.S. They are held in the National Museum in Torun, Poland, the Krasinski Library in Warsaw, and in private collections in Poland, India, Sweden, Denmark, Morocco, Israel, and the U.S. She is the recipient of several prizes including the prestigious S. Wyspianski’s Memorial Award. Since 1997, she has resided in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Artist’s Statement

I show the force and beauty of nature, its essential aesthetic and complexity. Nature has an intensity that terrifies us, but a beauty which always amazes us. We are both witnesses and players in this great performance. I always wanted to make my works look as three dimensional as possible to make the viewers feel like they are in the middle of this spectacle. I use powerful methods such as cutting, tearing, doubling the surfaces, and performing expansive installations which envelop the audience and bring them directly inside the work.