Heath Matysek-Snyder

I investigate the bundling stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. Over several years I have developed the “Komíny Series,” a body of work that investigates themes of place and identity through the act of stacking firewood. The Komíny (Czech for “stacks”) that I create, incorporate meaningful objects directly into firewood stacks. The embedded artifacts range from books to chairs to tractors, signifying different places, cultures and histories depending on the chosen objects and locations.

“Tractor Stack 2.25” takes an icon of Wisconsin, the tractor (in this case an operational 1951 Ford 8N), and places it into a giant stack of firewood to create a “billboard” promoting culture building, conversation and visual investigation.

Photo Credit: Eric Baillies + Heath MS

I investigate the bundling stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. Over several years I have developed the “Komíny Series,” a body of work that investigates themes of place and identity through the act of stacking firewood. The Komíny (Czech for “stacks”) that I create, incorporate meaningful objects directly into firewood stacks. The embedded artifacts range from books to chairs to tractors, signifying different places, cultures and histories depending on the chosen objects and locations. 

This stack has been installed in two locations. Here is it seen at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, in Auburn AL, as part of “Out of the Box,” a biennial exhibition of outdoor sculpture that is displayed for a year. Initially this piece was installed to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of North Branch School, an AMAZING alternative school nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Nelson County, VA. Three borrowed objects from the school, one for each decade, reside in the firewood and speak to key aspects of North Branch; a picnic table for community, a desk for learning and a tricycle for play. The peaked frame referenced the architecture of the school and the surrounding mountains, while the blue gradation captures the way the leaves change color, in Fall, at the tops of the mountains first before descending into the valleys and vice versus in the Spring when the new greens leaves march up the mountain slopes.

Photo and Video Credit: Mike Cortez

Milwaukee NPR: Radio Chipstone (minute 1:50 - 3:04)

I investigate the bundling, stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. This grouping of materials takes shape as furniture, as sculptural installation and as interior-architecture. Alternating between nesting inside of structures, filling architectural niches or surrounding found objects, I am intrigued by the visual patterns and textures of stacked materials. Over several years I’ve developed the “Komíny Series,” a body of work that investigates themes of place and identity through the act of stacking firewood. I, like many others, have a very specific and real history with the cutting, splitting and stacking of firewood. Growing up, my family heated with wood and collecting it was a year round family task. The Komíny (Czech for “stacks”) that I create, incorporate meaningful objects directly into firewood stacks. The embedded artifacts range from books to chairs to tractors, signifying different places, cultures and histories depending on the chosen objects and locations. 

*In the Public Collection of the Madison Central Public Library (Madison, WI).

Photo Credit: Eric Baillies

The “slatted” aesthetic and method of object construction is something that I regularly revisit in my studio practice. Generating pieces by creating skeletal structures and covering them with slats of wood, in the ilk of wooden boat makers, I often find myself visually synthesizing the world around me into slatted forms.

The “twists” were directly influenced by the wooden boat community in San Diego, California. The oak twist has a window which allows the viewer to inspect the internal structure, while the mahogany twist was my first venture using phosphorescent paint on the edges of each slat. When the lights are turned off, an amazing ghost-like, line drawing of the form becomes visible.

Photo Credit: Larry Stanley

Article about Fall Line with Embedded Video

Video about Fall Line

Time-Lapse Installation Video

Extended Artist Statement about Fall Line

Enjoyed by all, the James River is unbiased. Dropping 105’ in seven miles, the river cascades down a series of large rapids, while flowing through Richmond, Virginia’s, city limits. This is a geological feature called the Fall Line. 

 Investigating the identity of a place, “Fall Line” is a 27ft. long sculpture/bench positioned prominently in the Cabell Library, at Virginia Commonwealth University. Inspired by the James River and the City of Richmond, the piece brings a key feature of the city, the river, into the library. Constructed of white oak, and divided where bridges cross the river, the bench consists of four sections, allowing students to flow through. Each pass-through offers an abstracted representation of the corresponding bridge, as well as industrial materials synonymous with Richmond, including historic brick, cobblestones and patinated-steel concrete forms used for many of Richmond’s sidewalks. ‘Fall Line’connects outside with inside, natural with urban, and the community of Richmond with the university.

*In the Public Collection of the James Branch Cabell Library, at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA).

Photo Credit: David Hunter Hale

The “slatted” aesthetic and method of object construction is something that I regularly revisit in my studio practice. Generating pieces by creating skeletal structures and covering them with slats of wood, in the ilk of wooden boat makers, I often find myself visually synthesizing the world around me into slatted forms.

“Alveus,” (latin for cavity, hollow or hold of a ship) was directly influenced by the wooden boats of Hobart’s harbor, on the River Derwent, in Tasmania, Australia. “Alveus” utilizes phosphorescent paint on the edges of each slat. When the lights are turned off, a wonderful ghost-like, line drawing of the form emerges from the darkness.

*In the Corporate Collection of Forestry Tasmania (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia).

Photo Credit: Peter Whyte

I investigate the bundling, stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. This grouping of materials takes shape as furniture, as sculptural installation and as interior-architecture. Alternating between nesting inside of structures, filling architectural niches or surrounding found objects, I am intrigued by the visual patterns and textures of stacked materials. Over several years I’ve developed the “Komíny Series,” a body of work that investigates themes of place and identity through the act of stacking firewood. I, like many others, have a very specific and real history with the cutting, splitting and stacking of firewood. Growing up, my family heated with wood and collecting it was a year round family task. The Komíny (Czech for “stacks”) that I create, incorporate meaningful objects directly into firewood stacks. The embedded artifacts range from books to chairs to tractors, signifying different places, cultures and histories depending on the chosen objects and locations.

Photo Credit: Taylor Dabney

I investigate the bundling, stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. This grouping of materials takes shape as furniture, as sculptural installation and as interior-architecture. Alternating between nesting inside of structures, filling architectural niches or surrounding found objects, I am intrigued by the visual patterns and textures of stacked materials. Over several years I’ve developed the “Komíny Series,” a body of work that investigates themes of place and identity through the act of stacking firewood. I, like many others, have a very specific and real history with the cutting, splitting and stacking of firewood. Growing up, my family heated with wood and collecting it was a year round family task. The Komíny (Czech for “stacks”) that I create, incorporate meaningful objects directly into firewood stacks. The embedded artifacts range from books to chairs to tractors, signifying different places, cultures and histories depending on the chosen objects and locations.

Photo Credit: Taylor Dabney

I investigate the bundling, stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. This grouping of materials takes shape as furniture, as sculptural installation and as interior-architecture. Alternating between nesting inside of structures, filling architectural niches or surrounding found objects, I am intrigued by the visual patterns and textures of stacked materials. Over several years I’ve developed the “Komíny Series,” a body of work that investigates themes of place and identity through the act of stacking firewood. I, like many others, have a very specific and real history with the cutting, splitting and stacking of firewood. Growing up, my family heated with wood and collecting it was a year round family task. The Komíny (Czech for “stacks”) that I create, incorporate meaningful objects directly into firewood stacks. The embedded artifacts range from books to chairs to tractors, signifying different places, cultures and histories depending on the chosen objects and locations.

Photo Credit: Taylor Dabney

The “slatted” aesthetic and method of object construction is something that I regularly revisit in my studio practice. Generating pieces by creating skeletal structures and covering them with slats of wood, in the ilk of wooden boat makers, I often find myself visually synthesizing the world around me into slatted forms.

Photo Credit: Bill Lempke + Heath MS

The “slatted” aesthetic and method of object construction is something that I regularly revisit in my studio practice. Generating pieces by creating skeletal structures and covering them with slats of wood, in the ilk of wooden boat makers, I often find myself visually synthesizing the world around me into slatted forms.

Photo Credit: Bill Lempke

Whether or not the Earth is overpopulated is up for debate (just as global climate change is…?) and the “facts” about population/overpopulation get spun to fit the agenda of the speaker. That said I try to look at what’s “in front” of me and make logical observations. Intuitively, overpopulation seems to be a problem from both humanitarian and environmental standpoints. In both cases I find “us” (as humans) to be the real problem…and the solution. I am the eternal optimist, I am empathetic and I believe in humans. “We” (collectively) have the ability to show sincere compassion and absolute brilliance but our history also shows that we harvest our resources until we exhaust them, we pollute our surroundings and then we move on to do it again. We manifest Aristotle’s idea of the Tragic Hero quite systematically. We are ingenious. We are flawed. We are complex.

 “Two by Two: Life Boats for a Dead Tree” is comprised of three elements; the Boat/Ark forms, the Tree cut into two sections and the Condoms. Each of the three components represent different but overlapping ideas to promote a dialogue and ask questions of the viewer. Two by Two,examines, but is not limited, to themes of Human Invention and Survival, Designed and Engineered Solutions, Human Dominance over the Natural World, Exhaustion and Extinction of Natural Resources and the Human Waste Stream. 

*“Two by Two: Life Boats for a Dead Tree”, was made for a traveling exhibition titled, Preservatif, which was curated by artist/curator/activist Niki Johnson. Here is the link to the exhibition website: https://preservatifexhibition.wordpress.com

The “slatted” aesthetic and method of object construction is something that I regularly revisit in my studio practice. Generating pieces by creating skeletal structures and covering them with slats of wood, in the ilk of wooden boat makers, I often find myself visually synthesizing the world around me into slatted forms.

Photo Credit: Eric Baillies

I investigate the bundling, stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. This grouping of materials takes shape as furniture, as sculptural installation and as interior-architecture. Alternating between nesting inside of structures, filling architectural niches or surrounding found objects, I am intrigued by the visual patterns and textures of grouped materials.

I investigate the bundling, stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. This grouping of materials takes shape as furniture, as sculptural installation and as interior-architecture. Alternating between nesting inside of structures, filling architectural niches or surrounding found objects, I am intrigued by the visual patterns and textures of grouped materials.

Photo Credit: Bill Lempke

I investigate the bundling, stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. This grouping of materials takes shape as furniture, as sculptural installation and as interior-architecture. Alternating between nesting inside of structures, filling architectural niches or surrounding found objects, I am intrigued by the visual patterns and textures of grouped materials.

Commissioned for the entryway of the Madison Children’s Museum, “Pick-Up Sticks” connects children with the natural world by bringing the outdoors, indoors. Sections of locally harvested tree species are nestled inside of reclaimed walnut frames, providing a repetition of circles and a multitude of different bark textures, colors and patterns. This piece was in part a response to the haunting amount of screen time that our society consumes. Rather than bright displays which hypnotize young and old alike, “Pick-Up Sticks” asks you to investigate the physical world.

*In the Public Collection of the Madison Children’s Museum (Madison, WI).

Photo Credit: John Maniaci & Heath MS

I investigate the bundling stacking and clustering of materials into and around forms. Over several years I have developed the “Komíny Series,” a body of work that investigates themes of place and identity through the act of stacking firewood. The Komíny (Czech for “stacks”) that I create, incorporate meaningful objects directly into firewood stacks. The embedded artifacts range from books to chairs to tractors, signifying different places, cultures and histories depending on the chosen objects and locations.

Photo Credit: Heath MS

The “slatted” aesthetic and method of object construction is something that I regularly revisit in my studio practice. Generating pieces by creating skeletal structures and covering them with slats of wood, in the ilk of wooden boat makers, I often find myself visually synthesizing the world around me into slatted forms.

Photo Credit: Bill Lempke + Heath MS

I grew up roofing with my dad and watching my mom make textile art, render in graphite and charcoal, and create intricate illuminated manuscripts. Caldera pays homage to my parents, while asking the audience to rethink the materials that are commonly associated with furniture objects. 

*"Caldera” is in the Try-me Collection. Try-me is a Private Educational collection in Richmond, VA.

Try-me Collection

Photo Credit: Larry Stanley + Heath MS

“Here/There Con-NEC-tions” was a body of work and solo exhibition that I created/mounted during a one month residency in Shanghai, China. From March-April 2018, I was an Interdisciplinary Visiting Artist-In-Residence of Design and Technology, in the College of Design and Innovation, at Tongji University. Rather than displaying my work in one of the university galleries, I chose instead to install the work on the 22’ x 16’ wall, in the highly trafficked atrium space of the Echo Exhibition Hall. Previous to this installation the wall had never been used to display art work.

Exhibition Statement

Arriving in a new place and being illiterate, with no comprehension of the language, and no speaking skills can be paralyzing…or it can be energizing. I lean towards the latter. Instantly I am hyper aware of my surroundings. Eating the newness with my eyes. Tasting the newness with my tongue. Processing the new world with freshness. 

The trees that line the streets of Shanghai…I know those trees. Sycamores. I recognized them in the dark. The same sycamores that are native to my home? The ones that grow wild along the rivers but also along the farmer’s fields? The trees with the bark of peeling camouflage? The sycamores here are a hybrid tree; so not exactly the same…but very close. In these trees is a connection. A direct connection between my home of Richmond, Virginia, and Shanghai, China. This connection of flora catalyzed this body of work. 

At stations and intersections there is an exchange of information. A hub is where things come together. Where people and cultures can come together and share their differences and revel in their similarities…together. 

Each piece in this exhibition illustrates a connection, an intersection or a hub of some kind; creating a map of my Shanghai experience. I am staying in the Former French Concession. Every day I step-down and take Line 10, twelve lavender stations (seven of which have transfers), from Shanghai Library to Tongji University where I step-back-up and re/connect with a good friend, Hongtao Zhou, over furniture, design, art, food and laughter. I meet Ge and although we can’t communicate with words we can speak “tool,” and “woodworking,” and “work.” These languages cross over our verbal barrier and allow us to genuinely enjoy each other’s company. My experience here is showing me once again, that good people are good people, no matter where you go. 

 Climb up & down…a bamboo ladder. 

Gather jewels in the deconstruction.

Say hello and smile.

Find connections. 

TITLE LIST (top to bottom)

1.    High Chairs

2.    Blue Collar Escalator 

3.    From Frank’s Yard (left to right & top to bottom)

3.1.  Police Bike

3.2.  Green Lantern

3.3.  Super Conductor

3.4.  Ribbons

3.5.  Toothbrush

3.6.  Spring Sycamore

3.7.  Knot

3.8.  Purple

3.9.  …..Pufffffff!

3.10.  Reach Up

 4.    Line 10 Sycamore

 5.    Sitting With Bamboo

6.    12 Station Metro Ladder