Matthew Hawtin

Category: Torqued Series

  • Torqued Series 2025

    The Torqued Series started in 1998 with the introduction of the ‘Torqued Paintings’. This was an investigation into the basic principles of painting – line, shape, colour and form – using custom-built stretcher frames that ‘torque’ the painting surface. These 3-D canvases have formed the foundation of my practice and have been an integral part in establishing a unique language for the overall ‘Torqued Series’ which now includes paintings on fiberglass panels as well as works that contour to corners. Another development to the series has been the introduction of a hexagon frame with no perpendicular sides – the ‘Abstract Frame’ – which creates a new and dynamic shape in which to explore.

    The newest iterations of the Torqued Painting series are works’ that hark back to the original square-shaped frames, yet this time the frame sides are slanted at obtuse and acute angles giving the works a new perceptive effect. The angles remain constant throughout the series as a way to connect the work, literally and figuratively. A couple of the pieces are diptychs and connect at singular points, talking to each other, while others are individual and visually connected through the physical design of the pieces, as seen in the ‘Life’ series, a four-panel work that is coming into focus. Through big or small steps, that’s always the important part of my practice – to keep evolving and exploring new ideas and methods in which to pursue my aesthetic language.

  • Torqued Series 2021

    Torqued Series 2021

    Updates in process.

    Check IG – MH Instagram

  • Torqued Series 2021 – NFTs

    Torqued Series 2021 NFTs

    Updates in process.

    New Digital Editions:

    Check Opensea – Opensea

  • Torqued Series 2019

    Torqued Series 2019

    The Torqued Series started in 1998 with the introduction of the ‘Torqued Paintings’. This was an investigation into the basic principles of painting – line, shape, colour and form – through the use of custom-built stretcher frames that ‘torque’ the painting surface. In recent developments to this series the wooden frame has been constructed with no perpendicular sides to create a new and dynamic shape with resulting torqued surface. This abstract frame leads the painting series through explorations of colour, size and materials to continually push the work forward.

    This continued evolution of work bought about a new variant of the series in 2009. The ‘Torqued Panels’ emerged out of the desire to remove the physical structure of the paintings (i.e. the stretcher frame), and to focus more intently on only surface. Fiberglass panels and custom mounting brackets were chosen to achieve painted torqued surfaces in varying sizes, shapes and colours that seem to ‘float off the wall’, giving them a weightlessness and presence apart from conventional paintings.

    This lightness of form is also explored in corner pieces, a physical object that contours to the angled meeting point of a room creating its own ambiguous curved space. The corner piece inhabits an area of a room usually devoid of interference yet it’s through intervention that something new exists – a colourful but quiet entity cornered for consideration.

    Although each series has its own technical demands, they all live in aesthetic parallel that blur the line between artistic disciplines. There is a determination to continually push the work forward through aesthetic variations, technical refinements and experimenting with new materials. Within this forward trajectory there is an overall vision to create art that is ‘other-worldly’ and in a sense, futuristic. A looking towards an aesthetic not yet seen or fully understood – a desire to go where no one has gone before.

  • Torqued Series 2018

    Torqued Series 2018

    The Torqued Series started in 1998 with the introduction of the ‘Torqued Paintings’. This was an investigation into the basic principles of painting – line, shape, colour and form – through the use of custom-built stretcher frames that ‘torque’ the painting surface. In recent developments to this series the wooden frame has been constructed with no perpendicular sides to create a new and dynamic shape with resulting torqued surface. This abstract frame leads the painting series through explorations of colour, size and materials to continually push the work forward.

    This continued evolution of work bought about a new variant of the series in 2009. The ‘Torqued Panels’ emerged out of the desire to remove the physical structure of the paintings (i.e. the stretcher frame), and to focus more intently on only surface. Fiberglass panels and custom mounting brackets were chosen to achieve painted torqued surfaces in varying sizes, shapes and colours that seem to ‘float off the wall’, giving them a weightlessness and presence apart from conventional paintings.

    This lightness of form is also explored in corner pieces, a physical object that contours to the angled meeting point of a room creating it’s own ambiguous curved space. The corner piece inhabits an area of a room usually devoid of interference yet it’s through intervention that something new exists – a colourful but quiet entity cornered for consideration

    Although each series has it’s own technical demands, they all live in aesthetic parallel that blur the line between artistic disciplines. There is a determination to continually push the work forward through aesthetic variations, technical refinements and experimenting with new materials. Within this forward trajectory there is an overall vision to create art that is ‘other-worldly’ and in a sense, futuristic. A looking towards an aesthetic not yet seen or fully understood – a desire to go where no one has gone before.

  • Torqued Series 2017

    Torqued Series 2017

    The Torqued Series started in 1998 with the introduction of the ‘Torqued Paintings’. This was an investigation into the basic principles of painting – line, shape, colour and form – through the use of custom-built stretcher frames that ‘torque’ the painting surface. In recent developments to this series the wooden frame has been constructed with no perpendicular sides to create a new and dynamic shape with resulting torqued surface. This abstract frame leads the painting series through explorations of colour, size and materials to continually push the work forward.

    This continued evolution of work bought about a new variant of the series in 2009. The ‘Torqued Panels’ emerged out of the desire to remove the physical structure of the paintings (i.e. the stretcher frame), and to focus more intently on only surface. Fiberglass panels and custom mounting brackets were chosen to achieve painted torqued surfaces in varying sizes, shapes and colours that seem to ‘float off the wall’, giving them a weightlessness and presence apart from conventional paintings.

    This lightness of form is also explored in the new corner works, a piece in development for four years. It is a physical object that contours to the angled meeting point of a room creating it’s own ambiguous curved space. The corner piece inhabits an area of a room usually devoid of interference yet it’s through intervention that something new exists – a colourful but quiet entity cornered for consideration.

    Although each series has it’s own technical demands, they all live in aesthetic parallel that blur the line between artistic disciplines. There is a determination to continually push the work forward through aesthetic variations, technical refinements and experimenting with new materials. Within this forward trajectory there is an overall vision to create art that is ‘other-worldly’ and in a sense, futuristic. A looking towards an aesthetic not yet seen or fully understood – a desire to go where no one has gone before.

  • Torqued Series 2016

    Torqued Series 2016

    The Torqued Series started in 1998 with the introduction of the ‘Torqued Paintings’. This was an investigation into the basic principles of painting – line, shape, colour and form – through the use of custom-built stretcher frames that ‘torque’ the painting surface. In recent developments to this series the wooden frame has been constructed with no perpendicular sides to create a new and dynamic shape with resulting torqued surface. This abstract frame leads the painting series through explorations of colour, size and materials to continually push the work forward.

    This continued evolution of work bought about a new variant of the series in 2009. The ‘Torqued Panels’ emerged out of the desire to remove the physical structure of the paintings (i.e. the stretcher frame), and to focus more intently on only surface. Fiberglass panels and custom mounting brackets were chosen to achieve painted torqued surfaces in varying sizes, shapes and colours that seem to ‘float off the wall’, giving them a weightlessness and presence apart from conventional paintings.

    This lightness of form is also explored in the new corner works, a piece in development for the past 4 years. It is a physical object that contours to the angled meeting point of a room creating it’s own ambiguous curved space. The corner piece inhabits an area of a room usually devoid of interference yet it’s through intervention that something new exists – a colourful but quiet entity cornered for consideration.

    Although each series has it’s own technical demands, they all live in aesthetic parallel that blur the line between artistic disciplines. There is a determination to continually push the work forward through aesthetic variations, technical refinements and experimenting with new materials. Within this forward trajectory there is an overall vision to create art that is ‘other-worldly’ and in a sense, futuristic. A looking towards an aesthetic not yet seen or fully understood – a desire to go where no one has gone before.

  • Torqued Series 2015

    Torqued Series Statement 2015

    The Torqued Series started in 1998 with the introduction of the ‘Torqued Paintings’, an investigation into the basic principles of painting – line, shape, colour and form through the use of custom built stretcher frames that ‘torque’ the painting surface. This series has continued since, exploring different iterations on the same underlying principles. In recent developments to this series the wooden frame has foregone any right-angled proportions and instead has been constructed with no perpendicular sides to create a new and dynamic shape with resulting torqued surface. The original idea was to take one form and by changing the hanging position of each painting a new form would be visible.

    In 2009 a new development in the Torqued Series emerged by considering the possibilities of removing the physical structure of the paintings (i.e. the stretcher frame), to focus more intently on only surface by maintaining a painted torqued plane that ‘floated off the wall’. To achieve this effect fiberglass panels are used as the painting support. With this new series I was interested in trying to achieve something ‘other-worldly’ and in a sense, futuristic. As the series has progressed the work has also become more individualized, each taking on colourful personalities.

    The Torqued Series, the panels and paintings, live in aesthetic parallel and can be viewed as formal objects that blur the line between painting and sculpture by exploring the basics principles of art; line, shape, colour and form. The works also exist in a space where thoughts and feelings can live; as minimal objects of meditation that reflect our daily emotions.

  • Torqued Series 2014

    Torqued Series Statement 2014

    The Torqued Series started in 1998 with the introduction of the ‘Torqued Paintings’, an investigation into the basic principles of painting – line, shape, colour and form through the use of custom built stretcher frames that ‘torque’ the painting surface. This series has continued since, exploring different iterations on the same underlying principles. In recent developments to this series the wooden frame has foregone any right-angled proportions and instead has been constructed with no perpendicular sides to create a new and dynamic shape with resulting torqued surface. The original idea was to take one form and by changing the hanging position of each painting a new form would be visible.

    In 2009 a new development in the Torqued Series emerged by considering the possibilities of removing the physical structure of the paintings (i.e. the stretcher frame), to focus more intently on only surface by maintaining a painted torqued plane that ‘floated off the wall’. To achieve this effect fiberglass panels are used as the painting support. With this new series I was interested in trying to achieve something ‘other-worldly’ and in a sense, futuristic. As the series has progressed the work has also become more individualized, each taking on colourful personalities.

    The Torqued Series, the panels and paintings, live in aesthetic parallel and can be viewed as formal objects that blur the line between painting and sculpture by exploring the basics principles of art; line, shape, colour and form. The works also exist in a space where thoughts and feelings can live; as minimal objects of meditation that reflect our daily emotions.

  • Torqued Series 2013

    Torqued Series Statement

    The Torqued Series started in 1998 with the introduction of the ‘Torqued Paintings’, an investigation into the basic principles of painting – line, shape, colour and form through the use of custom built stretcher frames that ‘torque’ the painting surface. This series has continued since, exploring different iterations on the same underlying principles. Recent developments have seen the wooden frame forego any right-angled proportions and instead has been constructed with no perpendicular sides to create a new and dynamic shape with resulting torqued surface. The original idea was to take one form and by changing the hanging position of each painting a new form would be visible.

    In 2009 a new development in the Torqued Series emerged by considering the possibilities of removing the physical structure of the paintings (i.e. the stretcher frame), to focus more intently on only surface by maintaining a painted torqued plane that ‘floated off the wall’. To achieve this effect fiberglass panels are used as the painting support. With this new series I was interested in trying to achieve something ‘other-worldly’ and in a sense, futuristic. As the series has progressed the work has also become more individualized, each taking on colourful personalities.

    The Torqued Series, the panels and paintings, live in aesthetic parallel and can be viewed as formal objects that blur the line between painting and sculpture by exploring the basics principles of art; line, shape, colour and form. The works also exist in a space where thoughts and feelings can live; as minimal objects of meditation that reflect our daily emotions.