About The Artist - Matthew Crane

Every piece of art I create carries a deeper meaning and intention.  Vibrant colors and flowing energetic movements are my vocabulary - visual representations of emotions, resistance, passion, and resilience.  

My work is multilayered - both visually and conceptually.  Each layer of paint represents a unique perspective, a new emotional insight, or another facet of the psychological landscape - mirroring the complexity of personal transformation and the nuanced experiences that shape our inner worlds.

For me, art is an exploration of my own inner depths.  As both a Queer and HIV+ Artist - My artwork has helped me to work through personal traumas and explore what is truest for me in life. 

Being a Licensed Massage Therapist with a focus in Craniosacral Therapy - all of my paintings are infused with healing energy and intention.  Each layer of paint adds a layer of depth and emotion to the final soul of the painting.  I love watching a painting shift and mold itself into the spirit it was meant to become.  Layering sheer acrylics, acrylic pens, and oil paints - I create works that are rich in character and speak to the soul of the viewer. 

I utilize golden proportions in each piece to help the viewer realign the energetic fields of their body as they take in the work.

Being HIV+ affects every layer of my life, informing the way I see the world and how I process my perceptions through my work.  My art helps me to face my own vulnerabilities - transforming them into color, light,  motion, and strength - offering a reflection of my healing journey and creative evolution. 

My artistic process is as much about inner repair and spiritual evolution as it is about creating something beautiful to share with the world.  It often speaks to what I’m processing, reaching for, or letting go of.  Through this deeply introspective practice - my hope is that my artwork holds space for vulnerability, giving viewers the opportunity to pause and reflect, inviting them into a quiet exploration of their own inner landscape.

I believe my artwork and motivations can only be fully understood and appreciated if the viewer knows where I am coming from and what I have endured in my life.   My reality sharpens my awareness of mortality, the fragility of our existence, and the subtle complexities that shape our lives.  My positivity quietly weaves its way through my body of work.  

Sometimes an HIV ribbon will appear in one of my paintings quite unexpectedly as layers converge.  This tells me that even subconsciously - my artistic soul yearns for freedom from the shackles of quiet shame and fears of unsaid truths that kept me frozen and held me back in life for far too long.  As my artistic path unfolds before me, it is clear that I must move forward transparently and unapologetically in every layer of my life as I continue to push myself to grow and evolve as both an artist and a human being.  Proving once again how art can be a catalyst and a vessel for healing on so many levels.

What I enjoy most about my art are the moments of reflection between layers - pondering emotional depths and next steps. Taking the time to evaluate colors and textures and how they play with the shifting light is crucial to my process, which is why it is difficult for me to rush a painting.  I love to sit with a piece and let it tell me what it needs next in its own time.  I see each painting as having its own soul or spirit, and the artist being charged with the task of bringing that spirit forth into the world.  I am a very introspective person.  I like to reflect, dig deeper, ask why, and evolve in new ways along with my artwork.  For me, art is as much about healing as it is about creating.