Master Mentor
Matt Duckett
Artist Statement
Matt Duckett is a painter, illustrator, and educator whose practice brings together figurative painting, portraiture, and imaginative storytelling. Alongside his fine art practice, he has worked with independent publishers on book covers and interiors, character design, card games, and splash art.
Matt’s paintings explore how tradition, memory, and displacement shape our sense of identity. His work draws on the places and communities he has known, from Scandinavian cultural traditions in rural Wisconsin and Irish immigrant communities in Chicago to communities affected by disaster in the Philippines. These experiences inform his interest in what people carry with them, both physically and emotionally, when they leave a place behind.
His work has been exhibited across the United States and internationally and featured in publications including Fine Art Connoisseur and Poets & Artists. He earned his MFA in Painting from Laguna College of Art and Design and holds bachelor’s degrees in Fine Art and English from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse.
Teaching and community involvement have been central to Matt’s career. His experience includes instruction in drawing foundations, figure drawing, and figure painting, along with artist residencies, guest lectures, and work with arts organizations supporting education and exhibition opportunities.
Teaching Experience
Laguna College of Art and Design, Foundations of Figure Drawing, Laguna Beach, CA, 2021.
Kline Academy of Fine Art, Foundations Drawing and Art Concepts, Los Angeles, CA, 2021.
Great River Arts, Painting the Figure, Little Falls, MN, 2017.
Studio Gallery 1311, Painting the Figure, La Crosse, WI, 2016.
Vitamin Studio, Figure Drawing, La Crosse, WI, 2008–2012.
Winona State University, Drawing Foundations, Winona, MN, 2011.
Education
Master of Fine Arts, Painting, Laguna College of Art and Design, 2021.
Bachelor of Arts, Fine Art; Bachelor of Arts, English, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, 2009.
Exhibitions
2021 · Emerging Masters, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA.
2021 · Converging Thoughts, LCAD Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA.
2018 · Masquerade, Abel Contemporary, Madison, WI.
2016 · Travelogue: Works from the Philippines, solo exhibition, Studio Gallery 1311, La Crosse, WI.
2016 · Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition, Eisele Gallery of Fine Art, Cincinnati, OH.
2012 · Forward: A Survey of Wisconsin Art Now, Charles Allis Museum, Milwaukee, WI.
Selected Awards and Residencies
2019 · Full Scholarship, Laguna College of Art and Design.
2016–2017 · Resident Artist and Guest Lecturer, Tagbanua Yayabo Community, Nanabu Indigenous People Elementary, and Aborlan National High School, Palawan, Philippines.
2014 · Shirl Smithson Memorial Scholarship, Oil Painters of America.
2012 · Artist Residency, Lanesboro Arts Center, Lanesboro, MN.
Selected Publications
Fine Art Connoisseur, “When Artists Depict Themselves,” April 2014.
Poets & Artists, 2011.
