Matt Swift is an all-around visual artist living in Columbus, Ohio. His work is not limited to any one medium or mode including photography, painting, video, digital compositions, mixed media and anything else that may be a source of inspiration. With an education in Art History, Film and Media Studies, and Library Science, the majority of his work stems from a deep connection to the historical avant-garde and experimental movements of all art forms. Juxtaposition of styles to find new abstract connections is where most of his work begins. Every piece is scientifically and creatively an experiment with a hypothesis that is tested and either is proven or disproven. What engagement occurs when you mix meditation and action painting to create a wall scroll combining the styles of Jackson Pollock and Zen Buddhist painters? What about the combination of purist structuralist cinematic techniques with the motivations of Norman McLaren’s frame by frame hand etched animations inspired by music? The end result encompasses a documentation of the experiment fit for a postmodern world, updating and educating about the styles of old through the lens of the plethora of information that is at the fingertips of our ever shrinking but also expanding digital world.

His current work is a conversation with alternative methods of landscape and portrait painting as performance to overcome his physical disability using various digital technologies. His recent work explores the intersection of human interaction and programmed robotics. His paintings embody the artist’s movements, application of paint, and interference with a robotic vacuum cleaner which through random object avoidance and rotating brushes serves as the mark making tool.