Online entries for our 113th Annual Juried Exhibition are open March 30 - May 4, 2024. Click here for more info.

Matina Marki Tillman was born and raised in Western Greece and currently resides in Connecticut. Her culture combined with her university background in Greek Medieval and Modern Literature and Poetry (B. A., University of Ioannina, Greece, 1989) have helped to form her artistic aesthetic. This, along with a lifelong interest in drawing the human figure, serves as the inspirational springboard for her artwork. A more recent exposure to college fine arts classes, independent studies, and workshops with a focus on figure drawing and printmaking helped to define the current direction of her work.

My practice of printmaking relies on the intersection with my drawing background, and the use of a more recent printmaking technique, solarplate etching, that allows me to combine elements from many different fields with a non-acid etching process using sunlight and water. With this technique I usually create the print matrix by drawing directly on transparent media using a variety of tools. Drypoint is another form of printmaking expression that I employ, sometimes intermixed with monotypes. The goal always remains the capture of the fluid atmosphere beyond and within the human; the story behind the picture.

Through my prints I’m attempting to preserve the qualities of fine lines in traditional drawings, the liquid properties of watercolor media, and the chiaroscuro nature of a charcoal drawing. Having dealt with drawings, the experimental world of prints fascinates and inspires me with the possibilities of exploring the same subject in multiple variations throughout the creation of the edition, some subtle and some more dramatic. For me, the right variation as I pull it from the etching press marks the birth of a new original.

My subject is exclusively the human figure; a look at imaginary or everyday personas, our given or chosen roles. The figures, either as quick gestures or completed entities (often in the form of self-portraits, employed as a tool and not for self-exploration), stand within an environment that shapes them yet still allows them to maintain their individuality.