Taj Mattingly

After an accident that injured his dominant hand in the summer of 2016, Taj left his life of working as a graphic designer and illustrator to pursue a new way to tell his stories with artwork. Driven by a focus on technique, Taj has pushed to learn new ways of drawing that he can approach ambidextrously. At the start of 2018 he began #DrawEveryDay – a way to force himself to take time each day to make one work on paper. Following the injury Taj began experiencing chronic pain, which inevitably influenced his work. He now approaches art in a relentless pursuit. Taj’s current work uses bold, expressive marks to give the work a sense of movement that is both purposeful and unavoidable. In all of his work he pushes for a balance between overwhelming intention and calm.

Taj has made art since he was a boy. At a very early age he was taking private lessons with local art instructors in the D.C. area, attending classes at universities & museums throughout grade school. In high school Taj was accepted into the Visual Arts Center in Montgomery County, Maryland, where he was able to finally spend the majority of his day creating. Taj moved to Kansas City in 1999 to attend KCAI, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Illustration & Graphic Design in 2003. During his time at KCAI he attended the Illustration Academy in Richmond, Virginia, in 2002 and 2003, where he was able to learn from internationally renowned artists.