Matthew Palladino's delicately assembled 3D artworks

Matthew Palladino is a New York-based artist formally known for his intricate paintings of warped renders. Over the past year Matthew started to create 3D paintings that boggle the mind. Delicately assembled their mouldable textures are artworks you want to reach out and touch.

Each of Matthew’s reliefs are made from three main elements, “the flat wood panel, cast objects adhered to the panel (consisting of plaster, hydrocal or resin) that were taken from moulds, and paint”. His series, Reliefs began by the artist initially ordering plastic moulds off the internet, “ones that were intended for making chocolate treats into various animals, objects, and some x-rated human figures,” explains Matthew. However, rather than pouring chocolate into the moulds the artist poured plaster, creating objects to adhere to his panels, “I would then paint the whole thing in enamel paint, which gives the pieces a glossy produced look.”

The result is a collection of works that due to their appropriation of commercially available objects appear as if they could mass produced. Once your eyes adjust, it’s clear they are hand-made with individual care, which is enhanced by the artist’s use of vacuum packed objects. “I built myself a vacuum-form machine, which allowed me to make inexpensive plastic moulds out of everyday objects I found like masks, chains, banana peels, lipstick, cups, gravel, air fresheners etc.” Matthew has additionally started to use matte paint as well, “I go back and forth now between the gloss and matte depending on the objects.”

Most recently the artist has begun to create his own objects from “non-drying clay that I form with my hands, instead of relying on found objects”. This process is the same as Matthew’s original operation but he explains it “frees me from having to rely on finding objects to use, as well as playing with scale, giving the objects a looser, more hand made feel.”