Meet the artist: Matt Dosa

Our new campaign for Affordable Art Fair Stockholm (2 – 6 October, Nacka Strandsmässan) takes Side by Side, a print by abstract artist Matt Dosa, as our star artwork.

Ahead of the fair we had the pleasure of visiting Matt in his vivid North London studio to hear about his journey into art, creative process, and inspirations. Read more below!

Can you tell us more about your journey as an artist?

My journey into painting began entirely through graffiti, which I started doing in my early teens, and continued for about twenty years. It appealed to me because it’s accessible to everyone.

Over time, my graffiti style evolved from the traditional approaches of lettering and cartoon characters to more abstract styles. I have always been drawn to abstract art because you’re constantly inventing it for yourself. 

It was around this period that I broke both my legs really badly. I was travelling in the back of a taxi in India and the driver crashed. When I woke up in hospital I was obviously horrified, but then I thought about how much time I would have to paint! I painted every single day during that year in a wheelchair – it became my full-time pursuit, out of necessity.  

Now I’ve come full circle – my background in graffiti has led me to start thinking about how the smaller, abstract paintings would translate into murals. Today I create huge abstract works outside, as well as the smaller paintings I make in my studio.  

“Art was a powerful tool to keep me going during a very difficult time.”

Matt Dosa

Do you believe art can be a tool to support better mental health?

Art was a powerful tool to keep me going during a very difficult time. I find the process of creating totally absorbing. When I’m in the studio I forget to look at my phone for hours! The act of painting is a necessity for me – going a week without painting would really stress me out. I can paint for 15 hours straight. I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of it. 

Your work is so distinctive! What’s your creative process when starting out with a new project?

I have a few different ways of approaching things. Studio time is what I crave the most but after a while it’s so solitary. I need a mix of time in the studio and working on murals. I’m quite a social person so after sitting in my studio alone for a while I get itchy feet. The mural work is good because it’s quite physical, it’s actually really demanding work sometimes. I work on these huge buildings which can be quite intense! 

There are a lot more iterations involved with mural work as it’s always in collaboration with a venue or a council, or a client. Every stage must be signed off, and I spend more time working on my computer designing. Whereas with my studio work, I get into a free flow and work it out as I go along. I really love working like this. I can work on a few paintings at once. Rather than sketching I think of the previous painting as the basis for the next painting. I usually take aspects of the last painting and feed it into the next, starting with a basic idea of what colours I’m going to use, but it never turns out how you envisioned it. I don’t think I’ve ever done a painting where I’m like “that’s exactly what I wanted to make.” 

What are the most rewarding aspects of being an artist today?

The successes are obviously very validating, especially as someone who has imposter syndrome! Like being the poster campaign for the Affordable Art Fair – it makes you think, “Oh, I must be doing something right!” This does make you feel good. But the process of making art is my favourite part of being an artist. 

Can you tell us more about your workshop practice, and what you think people take away from your work?

After I broke my legs, I started working with a homeless charity called the Single Homeless Project. This was my first step back into employment after being unemployed for about two years, as I had to have 10 operations on my legs, so I was eager to get started. Every week I visited different homeless hostels around London inviting people to come and paint with me. Then I started working with more charities, including in schools and referral units. So I built up this network running painting and graffiti workshops. I must have done painting workshops with thousands of people in London!

With my workshops, I try and promote that everyone can paint, especially with abstract art. There are no wrongs or rights. It’s what you like. I think abstract art is beautiful because of the lack of rules – there’s no good or bad, it’s just its own thing. If you do a painting you like, then no one can tell you it’s wrong. It’s the same with graffiti – people love spray paint, it brings out the child in all of us!

What advice do you have for emerging artists today?

Value the periods when you’re not making money from art, as this is when you will make the most authentically “you” art. As an artist, you’re never unemployed because it’s all feeding into this one thing. My advice would be to not get disheartened by the less busy times. No one is always busy, and I’ve slowly learned that the most valuable times are when I don’t have commissions. It would be easy to get disheartened and stop making work, but this is when it is most important to make work for yourself.  

I would also say share as much of your work as you can! Whether it’s on social media or just with people you know. A lot of people worry about sharing stuff because it’s not exactly how they wanted it to look, but you’ll never get to the point of it being perfect. That’s the whole beauty of it! Share the journey, talk to people. Every piece of art you put out there, you don’t know where that will get you. 

Do you have a favourite artwork or project you’ve worked on?

The Wood Green commission is my favourite mural because I’m so local. I grew up just around the corner from that building, I went to school nearby, so I know lots of people in the local area, and now I’m raising my own children here. The reaction from people when it was unveiled was amazing. I had local aspiring artists help me install it – it’s made up of 100 invented flags, and about 60 flags came from other people’s designs which I then brought to life. It created such a strong sense of community, and now I drive past it almost every day, and it always makes me smile. My brother also came back to the UK to help me paint it, which was cool. 

In terms of studio work, it was a huge moment when After Nyne Contemporary took me on – they’re a gallery I had followed for a long time! We talked about doing a show for a while but COVID got in the way. It was exciting when we found this venue to host a solo exhibition at the end of 2022. I was proud when I realised I had enough work to fill two floors!  

Thanks to Matt Dosa for sharing his story!

Affordable Art Fair Stockholm takes place from 2 – 6 October 2024. Sign up to our emails to be the first to hear all the important news on tickets, programme line up, exhibitors and more.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Main image: Matt Dosa photographed in his studio, 2023. Photo by Graham Turner.