ABOUT MY ART
I make bold, colorful paintings of people, animals, and plants in acrylics and oils. I am committed to exploring ideas in a wide range of styles, subject matter, and materials. Through sensitive portrayals of ordinary life, I hope to show that everything belongs.
BIO
The daughter of a Lao/Thai interpreter and teacher, Mattix was born in Seattle and raised in Thailand. This bicultural experience shaped her into a catalyst for community.
Mattix’s work has been shown extensively throughout the Pacific Northwest (see below) and is in numerous private collections. Mattix was selected for the Public Artist Roster by the WA Arts Commission in 2023. She was commissioned by the City of Burlington to paint a 14 x 63 foot mural, “Root to Rise” (pictured here). She painted the 10 x 31 foot mural “Treasures of the Skagit Sea” for Jefferson Elementary School in Mount Vernon. In 2017, Mattix’s work was selected for the national juried show at the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, WA. Mattix also authored Skein, a memoir about transforming a Bellingham neighborhood through a three-year fiber installation.
Mattix received a BFA from Western Washington University and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. She completed several artist residencies including The James and Janie Washington Residency (Seattle, WA) and the Grünewald Guild Art Residency (Planes, WA). Mattix has taught fine art throughout the Pacific Northwest including at Western Washington University, Seattle Pacific University, the Pratt Fine Art Center, and the Frye Art Museum. She and her husband live in Mount Vernon, Washington, where Mattix paints full time.
RÉSUMÉ
EDUCATION
M.F.A. San Francisco Art Institute, film & painting, 2005
B.F.A. Western Washington University, drawing & painting, cum laude, 2001
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022 mentored by Eric Grohe, muralist
1979-1995 grew up in Thailand, fluent in Thai language
RESIDENCIES & AWARDS
Grunewald Guild Artist Residency, Planes, WA, January 2019
St. Gertrude Monastery Artist Residency, Cottonwood, ID, 2012
James Washington Artist Residency, honorarium, Seattle, WA, 2010
The Vancouver Project Artist Residency, Vancouver, Canada, 2008
“Outstanding Graduate Award,” Art Department, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 2001
First Prize, Beyond Borders International College Art Competition, Bellingham, WA, 2000
Studio Art Scholarship, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 2000
Lowell-Grabill Poetry Contest, Honorable Mention, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL 1998
SOLO AND TWO-PERSON SHOWS & PROJECTS
“Treasures of the Skagit Sea,” mural, Jefferson Elementary School, Mount Vernon, WA, 2023
“Root to Rise,” mural, commissioned by City of Burlington, WA 2022
“Kaleidoscopic,” Jansen Art Center, Lynden WA, 2020 (solo)
“Portals,” Make.shift Art Space, Bellingham, WA 2018
“Love Loves to Love,” Make.shift Art Space, Bellingham, WA 2016
“Blue Sky Paintings,” SPAC Gallery, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle WA, 2007
SELECT GROUP SHOWS & FILM SCREENINGS
MoNA Art Auction, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA, 2023
“Like Mother,” traveling show, curator: Kelly Lyles, White River Valley Museum, Auburn, WA 2022
Bird Art Invitational, Smith and Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA 2021
“Like Mother,” Highline Heritage Museum, Burien, WA, 2021
“Like Mother,” Vashon Center for the Arts, Vashon, WA, 2021
“Like Mother,” North Seattle Community College, Seattle WA, 2019
“Department of Art Biennial Exhibit,” Western Gallery, Bellingham, WA, 2019
“The Performance of Place,” curator: Christen Mattix, Shoreline City Hall, Shoreline, WA, 2018
National Juried Art Exhibition, (Curator: Catharina Manchanda, SAM) Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA, 2017
“Aftermash: Artists on African American Experience,” Shoreline City Hall, Shoreline, WA, 2017
Objectification, (invitational) Smith and Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA, 2017
La Mer | La Mere, (Curator Tim Lowly) St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN & St. Mary's Univ., Winona, MN, 2016
“Healing Through Art,” PeaceHealth Hospital, Bellingham, WA 2015
Struggle and Strength, (AIDS Show) Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA, 2015
“Finding Home,” Snowdance Film Festival, Chelan, WA 📽
James Washington Artists in Residency, Hedreen Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2012
“Re-Art,” Smith-Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA, 2012
“Department of Art Biennial Exhibit,” Western Gallery, Bellingham, WA, 2012
“The Super8 Challenge,” Northwest Film Forum, Seattle, WA, 2010 📽
"The Beautiful, Grotesque and Sublime," Lookout Gallery, Vancouver, Canada, 2009
SAM Gallery, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA, 2008
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Adjunct Art Professor, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 2011-2022
Jansen Art Center, Lynden, WA, 2017-2020
Half-Time Assistant Art Professor, Adjunct, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle WA, 2006-2009
SELECT PUBLICATIONS
“Record Salmon Run,” in Sing the Salmon Home, Edited by Rena Priest, Empty Bowl Press, 2023
“Connections Made Visible,” Seen Journal, 2020, pg. 10-15
“The Gift of Quarantine,” Engage Art Blog, April 16, 2020
“Welcoming the Other,” CIVA Art Blog, August 8, 2019 [View Online]
"Record Salmon Run," in For the Love of Orcas: An Anthology, Edited by Andrew Shattuck McBride
and Jill McCabe Johnson, Wandering Aengus Press, 2019
“Return” in Shoreline City Art Zine, (honorarium), 2018
"Sweet Honey from My Old Failures," in The Meeting Place, Issue 2, Fall 2018
"Manifesto of a Poet Reborn," in Clover: A Literary Rag, Issue 13, Summer 2017
“For Longing,” in Psaltery & Lyre, September 2016
“Passage from Virgin to Bride,” in Psaltery & Lyre, July 2014
“Record Salmon Run,” in Psaltery & Lyre, October 2014
POETRY EDITOR
Founder & Editor, “The Poem Booth Project”, juried showcase in former phone booth, Bellingham WA, 2017-2019
Co-editor, Kodon Arts Journal, Wheaton College, Wheaton IL, 1995-1996
ARTIST TALKS
Echo Church, Bellingham, WA, 2019
Cooper Lanza Gallery, Bellingham, WA, 2018
Northwest Yarns, Bellingham, WA 2018
Whatcom County Library System (Ferndale, Lynden, Everson, Blaine), 2018
Darrell’s, Shoreline City Arts Program, WA, 2018
Seaport Bookstore, La Conner, WA, 2017
StillPoint Art Center, Bellingham, WA 2018
Peacehealth Chaplaincy Program, Bellingham, WA 2018
Village Books, Bellingham, WA 2017
Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA 2017
Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 2005, 2013
Trinity Western University, Langley, B.C. Canada, 2011
911 Media Center, Edge Program, Seattle, 2007