A self-taught artist known for his complex assemblage sculptures utilizing vintage photographs, metals pieces and hand carved wood, Matjames Metson has shown in Los Angeles at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Billy Shire Fine Arts, and La Luz de Jesus; Barrister’s Gallery in New Orleans; and the American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. A chosen selection of Metson’s stunning mid-size assemblage creations are now available exclusively right here on CARTWHEEL.

Falling for a Matjames Metson artwork is not unlike stepping into the flickering light of one’s own past life. One might find a number, a word, a color or an image, or a thought taken from an old script, becoming drawn in as if exploring a library that tells the stories of past-life friends and family.  These are not found objects; Metson searches the crannies of Los Angeles for treasures.

Artist: Matjames Metson
From: New Orleans, La.
Lives in: Los Angeles, Ca.
Age: 41

He’s museum quality. His work is very unique. It’s my background, my experience, my connection to outsider art. — CARTWHEEL founder Cindy Schwarzstein

Matjames Metson makes really beautiful, profound and moving works of art from vintage photographs, cigar boxes, furniture, old toys and so much more, imbuing his art with a sense of both loss and wonderment. – CARTWHEEL senior writer Lisa Derrick

Matjames is the real deal…He’s compelled by forces most people have no experience with…I have to ask if Rauschenberg has some play here. ‘Thank you for not saying Joseph Cornell!’…Cornell hadn’t even occurred to me. There’s more soul in Matjames’ work. More heft. Every piece seems haunted…Metson’s art seems to have the pulse of American Gothic,’ but not the way Grant Wood meant. For me, Metson’s pieces scan America’s hidden history, its dark swamps and the immigrants that fill them. – CARTWHEEL contributor Keith Ross Dugas

Why CARTWHEEL loves Matjames: We are so excited that Matjames Metson will be part of “Voodoo Haiti,” a 2014 group show at UCLA’s Fowler Museum! In addition to his delicate handmade works that each tell a salvaged human story, Metson is currently completing his graphic novel, Survivor’s Guild, Book 2, a story of the displacement and loneliness he experienced as a Hurricane Katrina refugee.

Matjames Metson spent the better part of two decades living in New Orleans. He now calls Los Angeles home. His work was featured in a solo show, “Method Attic” July 28-Aug. 4, 2012, at Coagula Curatorial Los Angeles. The show was covered in the Huffington Post, L.A. Weekly, Los Angeles Times, LAImYours and CARTWHEEL, and appears in this video, which offers a great glimpse at the dimension and scale of his work.

In TRANSLATOR, a short documentary about Matjames Metson, the artist asks:

If a house can be haunted, why can’t everyday objects?

He further explained this to CARTWHEEL:

There’s always an aura in a place. It’s not something you can put your finger on. It’s a haunting. It’s me feeling a story from what I find.” He looks to explore the residue that lingers on objects, perhaps the words that a pencil wrote or the emotion a person had in the only photograph that would be taken in their whole life. It’s my job to put that somewhere because without me it doesn’t have a place.

Studio tour info: CARTWHEEL has a series of events planned with Metson in 2013, including an exclusive studio tour. If you would like to be included, please email dana@CARTWHEELart.com.

What you get with CARTWHEEL SHOP: CARTWHEEL Art is a virtual gallery based in Los Angeles, California. We are real art lovers who are accessible to you online and in person. The possibilities of what you get include up-to-date information, behind-the-scenes news and exclusive viewings of our series of works carefully selected by CARTWHEEL founder Cindy Schwarzstein, including the ones shown here. If you have any questions about this work, the artist, payments or shipping, please e-mail Dana at shop@cartwheelart.com.