ex nihilo

Matthew Remsbecher

Solo Exhibition

Curated by Sophia Grace Kidd

Duration: January 24, 2026 - April 19, 2026

Visit: Fri-Sun 2-6 pm

poster - Ex Nihilo — Matthew Remsbecher Solo Exhibition

Meet Our Featured Artist

Matthew Remsbecher

Contemporary Artist

Born 1985, Matthew Remsbecher had a varied and colorful childhood living with his father, a carpenter, traveling throughout Colorado and Washington state. Living under unconventional means, Matt was exposed to a variety of unique living conditions, art and artists which informed his unique and honest experience and impression of the world. Finding connection with nature and craftsmanship, Matt connected with the power of creation and creativity- sculpting forms in the woods and traversing the high desert plateaus of Colorado. Developing a sense of design and vision into his 20s, Matt found his way to a professional education in Sustainable Design and Urban Planning; a discipline that allowed creative explorations combined with technical expertise and practice. Establishing himself as a notable designer and builder in Bellingham, Matt has applied his creative and technical practice to a host of artistic mediums including 3D sculpture, projection mapping, video performance, DJing and creative fine arts. Furthering his practice into his 30s and early 40s, Matt works to cultivate subtle forms of fine art that evoke a calm presence of form and color. Meant to be minimal and abstract, his works utilize organic forms, materials and gestures- presenting us with subdued shapes and colors and a process of self discovery of emotion, feeling and visual intrigue.

Artist Statement:
Matt Remsbecher (b.1985) pulls inspiration and technique for his works from his education and experience as an architectural designer and builder. Exploring subtle forms and textures, he works to discover the abstract and undefined with mixed media and restrained colors pallets. His work evokes calm, often monochromatic scenes of organic forms and gestures, allowing the viewer to find their own meaning and emotions from the works. While still exploring various mediums and working towards final forms, Matt’s work lives in the subtle, the less is more, the simple, ideas of minimalism and minimal structure. These works help us question the edge of art and process, of texture and color. At times, his works attempt to reach us with as little form and color as possible, begging questions of where art starts and ends.

Ex Nihilo: Matthew Remsbecher Solo Exhibition

January 24 – April 19, 2026
Opening ceremony at Sophia Grace Gallery: January 24, 2026, 5:30 PM
VIP Soirée at January 24, 2026, 4:30 PM
Leader Block & a Half, Sophia Grace Gallery, 2026 main st., ste. b, Ferndale, WA (RSVP requested – click here)

Ex nihilo – “out of nothing” – is often used to describe sudden creation. In this exhibition, it names something more intimate: the thoughts, emotions, and quiet awareness that arise within the viewer while spending time with Matthew Remsbecher’s paintings, where very little is given at first glance and meaning must surface gradually.

Across modern art history, artists have turned to black at moments when painting needed to slow down, reset, or speak plainly. Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935), working in Moscow and Petrograd around the Russian Revolution, used black to make a radical break—an attempt to begin again from a clean slate. Robert Motherwell (1915–1991), based in New York, carried black as a weight of political loss and historical grief in the aftermath of war. Mark Rothko (1903–1970), working primarily in New York, shaped black into quiet, inward spaces that invite reflection and emotional vulnerability. Ad Reinhardt (1913–1967), also working in New York, stripped painting down with black, asking viewers to look longer and more carefully, without distraction.

Matthew Remsbecher (b. 1985) enters this lineage from a different place. Working in Bellingham, Washington, his black paintings are not about starting over, mourning, transcendence, or refusal. They are about making. Built from black plaster over black paint, the surfaces hold texture, drag, and unevenness—clear evidence of work done by hand.

Raised around carpentry, travel, and unconventional living, and trained in sustainable design and urban planning, Remsbecher approaches painting as construction rather than illusion. These works do not announce themselves. They reward patience, closeness, and time spent looking. Here, black is not empty—it is carefully built, quietly held, and open to whatever the viewer brings into the space.

–Dr. Sophia Grace Kidd, January 16, 2026

Acquisition Details
• Complimentary regional delivery within Whatcom County
• Professional art handling and installation available upon request
• Installment acquisitions available upon request