Mat's images experiment with flowers and flames and show a powerful combination that you wouldn't usually see. It presents an oxymoron visually, combining life with destruction and capturing the moment just before the flower is destroyed by fire. The black backdrop adds darkness, surrounding the flower in blackness and illuminated only by the flame encasing it. As viewers we feel attracted and repelled by his images, they look odd but we are intrigued by it's meaning and effect on us. He places two opposites together, much like in most of his other work where he photographs disintegrating butterflies and moths and rotting flowers. He wants to make his audience feel uncomfortable and he achieves this with his powerful images.
I want to produce images that don't quite make sense and make my audience wonder why these two have been combined together, urging people to ask questions and try to work it out for themselves.
