Born in 1965 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Matthew Chase-Daniel graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, in Bronxville, New York in 1988. In 1988-1989, Chase-Daniel was an artist-in-residence at the Musée Adzak, Paris, France.  He currently lives and creates his art in Santa Fe, N.M.

Chase-Daniel uses photo-assemblage to create large composite landscapes that capture what he calls "the elongated experience of seeing" the world that surrounds us. He composes in two distinct phases-first by photographing extensively in the field, and second by editing and arranging the photographs to form a larger whole. Multiple images are assembled to create a composite nonlinear landscape that captures the artist's whole experience of the place he has chosen to photograph.  

Chase-Daniel has had numerous solo exhibitions at:

- Musée Adzak, Paris, France
- David Lewinson Gallery, Del Mar, CA
- Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- Morgan-Lehman Gallery, Lakeville, CA
- The Jonathan Club, Santa Monica, CA
- The Photomedia Center, Erie, PA

He has participated in group exhibitions at:

- Natuurkunst Drenthe, Schoonoord, Netherlands(residency and exhibition)
- MIAD, Venado Tuerto, Argentina; Lyceum, San Diego, CA
- Price-Dewey Galleries, Santa Fe, N.M.; Flusso Gallery, New York, NY
- Nasu International Biennnale, Nasu, Japan
- University of Central Lancaster, Preston, Lancashire, UK
- Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- The Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM

My work explores nature and the human relationship to nature, natural rhythms and processes of life. I seek to instill an awareness of ourselves as part of a large web of interconnectedness, rooted in time and place, within the context of universal human and natural experiences.

In my photo-assemblages I work to capture an elongated experience of seeing. I do not photograph only one moment in time, but rather a group of moments, selecting the most essential details of a place. Creating works of art this way draws on the traditions of photography, painting, and cinematography.  I work in this way in order to both capture and express a fully engaged relationship with nature, place, and time.  My hope is to capture attention, draw people into the work, and foster an awareness of the world and our place in it.

POLE SCULPTURES

The sculptures are composed from natural elements: Pine cones, wild plants, gourds. Collecting these materials in quantity and binding them to the tops of high poles, I am able to stimulate and alter my audience's perception of the natural world.  Objects that before may have been seen as plebian have been elevated and revered, challenging and reforming existing relationships between a viewer and his environment. These sculptures are not static objects. They are installed in outdoor settings, where they move and change. They are affected by wind, rain, and snow. Over time they will break down in a natural process of decomposition. They speak of relationships in nature, of living cycles of plants, of the relationship of earth to sun, of birth, death, and regeneration, of the cyclical aspect of nature, and of our human relationship to these cycles.  They are inspired not only by contemporary and historic fine art sculpture processes, but also by African fetish sculpture, Borneo funerary poles, and Native American and Tibetan funeral and prayer practices. They are celebrations, prayer offerings, harvest sacrifices to the gods.  They are about fertility, agriculture, sex, the environment, and religion.

POD SCULPTURES

I began creating this work as an outgrowth of the Pole Sculptures. These are archival interior works but thematically similar.  The forms of these sculptures are evocative of cocoons, seedpods, reed boats, and the human body.  They are vehicles of voyage and containers for transformation. The sculptures are composed by binding natural fibers to steel wire frames using waxed nylon cord.  The objects are lightweight and meant to be hung indoors.

Matthew Chase-Daniel is available to create site-specific poles and pod sculptures, using materials native to the site. Please contact Victoria Price Art & Design for further details.