Daina Mattis (b. 1984, Los Angeles, CA) creates drawings, paintings and sculptures that interrogate social structures using the monolithic and the iconic to better understand our being/presence outside of our singular bodies. Her work is drifting farther from the individual confines of identity and narrative and towards collective behavior and metaphysics. Mattis states, “As human beings our identities vary as much as our fingerprints, yet I believe we find unity in detachment; understanding with repetition; embrace in mutation; and change with reflection.”

Mattis’ drawings, paintings and sculptures have been exhibited nationally as well as internationally. She has won numerous awards and is in both private and public collections. Notable exhibitions include the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; Art Miami – Context, Miami, FL; the Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI; Marymount University of California, San Pedro, CA; The Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY; The Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA; Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA; J. Cacciola Gallery, NY, NY and Frances Keevil Gallery, Sydney, Australia. She is currently preparing for a solo show for the Fall of 2016 at SLA 307 Gallery in Manhattan.

Mattis holds an MFA from Syracuse University (2011) and a BFA from Laguna College of Art & Design (2007). She has served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Kutztown University, PA and as an Adjunct Professor at Syracuse University, NY. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. www.dainamattis.com