About
Heath Matysek-Snyder is a professional Firefighter/Paramedic with Wintergreen Fire & Rescue (WFR), in Nelson County, VA. Before joining WFR he was a Volunteer Firefighter/EMT, for 11 months, with Coos Bay Fire Dept., in Coos Bay, OR. Prior to joining the Fire Service, Heath was an Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts (VCUarts), where he taught in the Department of Craft/Material Studies, as the Wood/Furniture Design Area Head, from 2012-2019.
Heath earned his Paramedic Certification (NRP) from AEC in 2022, his NFPA Firefighter 1 Certification (IFSAC & Pro Board national seals), from the 32nd Heartland Fire Academy, in El Cajon, CA, in 2020 and his EMT Certification from San Diego Miramar College, in 2019. Heath earned his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004, and his BFA from VCUarts in 2000. Heath has been an Artist-in-Residence at San Diego State University, at Designed Objects Tasmania, in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia and at Tongji University's College of Design & Innovation, in Shanghai, China. Additionally, Heath has been a participating artist at Emma International Collaboration, in Ness Creek, Saskatchewan and has taught at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, in Deer Isle Maine.
“There are two ways of looking at life. One is as though there are no miracles, the second is as though everything is a miracle,”
-Albert Einstein-
The world around us is an intriguing place, and I fall strongly into Einstein’s second category of viewing it. I am fascinated by the goings on around me and I greatly enjoy the learning process. Whether it is learning a new skill or technique to utilize within my creative process or playing a new game, I have a passion for what I do not know and a yearning to explore. I think that I am hardwired as an investigator of things. Being an aesthetically minded individual, I am engaged by what I see. The constant input of visual information is unending...it never shuts off. It is always chugging along, adding bits and pieces to the aesthetic lexicon, the visual data stream, possibly to be used later, but maybe only to inform at that moment. I find it quite beneficial to view the world around me in a very cognizant way. Being aware of proportion, line and form in my daily routine provides me with a greater understanding of where I fit into the puzzle. In addition to being a visually engaged person, I have an insatiable appetite for what objects feel like. Gathering and cataloging information through my fingertips borders on an addiction and is an essential part of how I analyze the world. The data that is transmitted to me by touch is amazingly informative. It allows me to process visual stimuli in a very direct manner, transferring pattern, texture and structure into a tactile language that I am fluent in.
FYI - The goat below is my maker’s mark. His name is Lava. Look for Lava in a woodshop near you.
