About the Artist

Bio
Matthew Stemler is known for creating drawings, sculpture, and contemplative installation works. He finds a poetic language in unexpected materials while examining the social and technological structures of contemporary society. Stemler’s handling of materials is as intimate as the introspective themes that saturate the work. His creations often accentuate connections in the assembly, therefore, literal and figurative bonds are as much a part of the work as the forms that seem caught in their configuration.

Matthew Stemler has earned an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, a BFA from Temple University, Tyler School of Art, and an AA from Antonelli Institute of Art. He currently teaches as an associate professor in the Department of Visual Arts at Cairn University in Langhorne, PA where he is also the curator for the Connie A. Eastburn Gallery.

Exhibitions of Stemler’s work include the James A. Michener Art Museum, The Square Halo Gallery, and Art in City Hall. His installations have been exhibited at the Eastern State Penitentiary Museum and the LGTripp Gallery.

Statement
Conceptually, I am compelled by the dichotomy of reality; what we perceive versus what we believe. Drawing and sculpture are a means for me to frame ideas within a contemporary life saturated with incongruence. My work can be characterized by its complexities, mixing natural phenomena with poetic investigation and connecting my life’s patterns to the handling of a material’s innate qualities. In this process I aim to prompt material and personal redemption through the act of making.