Matthew Gonzales was born in Embudo, New Mexico in 1968 and lived most of his early life in Arizona and Northern New Mexico.

Upon graduating high school, he moved to Denver to study at the Colorado Institute of Art.  He illustrated the figure for several years, but his heart was always in fine art.  He explored many media and has found his niche in sculpture.

Matthew has now been a professional artist for almost twenty years.  His paintings, drawings, and sculptures can be found in both galleries and private collections.  His love of the figure is movingly expressed in his work, which harnesses light and shadow in powerful compositions.  With neither a back nor front, his work is meant to be enjoyed from all angles, as he says, "to expose the harmonies of form that reveal the body's perfect design."

His Nurture is a wonderful example of the rhythm and order he presents in his creations.  His pieces — whether serene, dynamic, or unsettling — manifest his artistic vision: "to capture that one fleeting moment when a person is revealed, when one is overwhelmed with the experience of being."

He is most excited when his hands are working the clay.  "There is something extraordinary that happens when the hands are working the clay," he says.  Taking the clay to bronze is complex, but Matthew has found the evolution fascinating and enjoys every aspect of the process.  He experiments with his own patinas as is exemplified in his male and female torso vases.

Making art is his life and he involves himself in as many aspects as he can as with public schools arts programs, and as a member of the Board of the Santa Fe Contemporary Hispanic Market.