Issue 24

9×12 Gouache on paper

About the Artist: MATTHEW FELIX SUN grew up in Manchuria (northeast China) and has been perfecting his craft since childhood, when a visit to an exhibition of Italian Renaissance art cemented his passion for painting. After an education and brief career in the sciences, which enabled him to escape his repressive native country and relocate to the US, he started to pursue art more seriously, focusing on painting with oil and, more recently, water-based media. His portfolio embraces diverse subject matter; lately, his work evokes historical and social commentary on current environmental, social, and political conditions.

He depicts life frankly and critically as visual surfaces and interior qualities. Instead of verisimilitude, he strives to discover and capture what is hidden, emphasizing the implicit and the unspoken. He tends toward a limited palette and records the world in a muted light, yet sometimes uses more vibrant colors to express enhanced emotions or allows more exuberant colors to generate a dimension of visual excitement, acknowledging that joy remains, however grim the world may be.

Sun’s work has been published by art and literary reviews, including The Amistad, Artistonish, Artist Portfolio Magazine, Garo, Owen Wister Review, Pomona Valley Review, Shark Reef, The Sonder Review, Superstition Review, Wilde Magazine, and William and Mary Review.

Awards and recognition include an Honorable Mention in the juried “Fresh Works VII” exhibition presented by Harrington Gallery (Pleasanton, CA); multiple ArtSlant Prize Showcase Awards and inclusion on its Watch List; an Honorable Mention in an Artist Portfolio Magazine Landscape Contest, and its Editor’s Choice Award.

Sun’s work has been selected for exhibition in juried shows and competitions in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, San Diego, Cincinnati, Berkeley, and other US cities.

His works are collected in the US, Canada, and China. His portfolio can be viewed at matthewfelixsun.com.