The close parallels between Mattison's abstractions of the human body and countless examples of ancient and modern figural sculpture are not in the least troubling when one considers that Mattison's object is not to achieve an entirely unique style but rather to address something that is perceived as just exactly not unique. His work joins an ongoing conversation about the nature of human existence that no doubt stretches back to the dawn of consciousness in the prehistoric mists. What he strives to add to that conversation is a personally intuitive understanding of the universal: something that arguably can only be manifested through barely perceptible nuances. His works are about not only a subtle, wordless communication between the figures that he represents but also, and just as importantly, the elusive metaphorical conversations that he holds with all figural artists, from the anonymous marble carvers of the ancient Cyclades to the celebrated masters of modernism.

Dr. Glen R. Brown
Professor of Art History, Kansas State University.
Article published "Ceramics Art and Perception", 2007.