MATT BAGLEY
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I have devoted my whole life to pursuing creative endeavors. Making art has been the Bagley family business for generations. Since childhood, I have been determined to be an artist, however, growing up in South Louisiana, my favorite pastime was exploring the swamps and studying its ecology and this has influenced my body of work. I trained as a printmaker at the University of North Texas. After graduation, I worked at various creative jobs such as a press operator, mural painter, and graphic designer. Unfortunately, at this time living with under managed Type 1 diabetes, my health went into serious decline. In 2003, my daughter, Arabella was born. This profoundly impacted me to aggressively address long ignored health issues. Once my health stabilized, I became overwhelmingly driven to create my own work. I hope that one day it will be a legacy for her. My daughter is much more than just inspiration for my work, she is credited with why I am still alive today making art. In 2010, I started Iron Frog Press (IFP) to encourage more fine art printing in the Dallas community. IFR is one of the few fine art presses in Dallas and specializes in relief printing. In the Printmaking community, I am most known for the Print Frog® which is a tool for efficiently printing without a press. Technically called a baren, the Print Frog® is made of solid glass and was initiated in 2012. This device out-performs every tool in its class. The Print Frog® is proving itself to be an extremely versatile and indispensable printmaking tool and is gaining international attention.
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ARTIST STATEMENT
The concept of the ‘Chill Rocket’ was originally an active philosophy where the path to spiritual enlightenment is through the pursuit of fun without sacrificing family life or career goals. Bicycles and skateboards were vehicles to get there. This philosophy resonated with ex-bicycle racers who were weary of the financial burden and the soul sucking aspects of competitive bicycle racing.
Later, after the extinction of the humans, the 'Chill Rocket' had evolved into a folk hero for the Robots of the future. A robot discovered a human skeleton that he adopted it as his form. He was an affable rebel who caused mischief with in the Robot culture and he wreaked havoc upon the SpaceBugs. Although the robots worshiped their human predecessors, the 'Chill Rocket' came to serve as personification of how the robots misperceived humanity. For example: the Robots yelled “Fail!!” as a cheer, admired lying, and viewed pornography as religious imagery. |