Artist : Mat Chivers
Title : Where Do I End and You Begin (Swift)
Medium : pencil on paper
Dimensions : 56 x 76 cm


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“As a child I learnt somewhere that swifts sleep in the air. They lock their wings and spiral down, waking before they hit the ground. I’ve held a kind of near-mystical reverence for them ever since. I’ve day-dreamt for hours imagining their epic migration route from the summer skies of North-Western Europe to the plains of sub-Saharan Africa - my mind travelling with them. Because of their incredible speed and the fact that they rarely land, they’re quite hard to observe, so I’ve probably spent more time experiencing the associations than the birds themselves. This swift was found the other side of the Atlantic in the car park of a Metro supermarket in Montreal. It would have probably overwintered in Peru if it’s journey turned out differently. Holding its body in the palm of my hand I can sense its absolute stillness. A delicate memory of airborne freedom. A beautiful vessel.”

The work of British artist Mat Chivers looks at some of the fundamental phenomena that drive our thoughts and actions. He explores ideas relating to perception, evolutionary process, ecology and ethics by bringing traditional analogue approaches to making into counterpoint with state of the art digital technologies. Chivers has works in numerous private and public collections including Oxford University Mathematical Institute, UK and Fondazione Henraux, Italy. Solo exhibitions include ‘Migrations’ at Arsenal Art Contemporain Montréal, Canada and Musée d’art de Joliette, Canada; ‘Harmonic Distortion’ at PM/AM, London, UK, ‘Altered State’s at Hallmark House, Johannesburg, South Africa and ‘Syzygy’ at Anima Mundi. Group exhibitions include The New States of Being at Centre d’Exposition de l’Université de Montréal, Canada; A Place In Time at Nirox, Johannesburg, South Africa; Glasstress: White Light/White Heat at Pallazzo Cavalli Franchetti for the 55th Venice Biennale, Italy and The Knowledge at The Gervasuti Foundation for the 54th Venice Biennale, Italy.