‘Cars (LOVE)’

‘Cars (LOVE)’, 2024

Matthew Lindblad

Oil on Canvas – 40″ x 30″

This piece is part of my ‘Cars’ series, rooted in one of my earliest creative memories of lining up toy cars for hours as a kid. What seemed like simple play was actually my first experiment with color, shape, and order. That instinct to arrange and give meaning through structure became the foundation of how I express myself today. Each figure here is like a car, a symbol of movement, memory, and identity. Together they create rhythm and order, but each carries its own character. This is how I make sense of the world, one row at a time.

For this work, I used the word “Love” as my guide. Each letter translates into cars by its place in the alphabet. L is the 12th letter, so I used 12 silver cars. O is the 15th, so I used 15 gold cars. V is the 22nd, so I used 22 copper cars. E is the 5th, so I used 5 blue cars. In this way, the word becomes not just written but built, shaped through motion, memory, and color.

Matthew is an artist whose oil paintings serve as a visual autobiography, reflecting his life’s journey and inner experiences. Born in Florida and raised in New York from the age of two, Matthew earned a degree in art history and political science from Fordham University.

Matthew’s art is deeply shaped by his lived experience with cerebral palsy and by the ongoing dialogue between his physical reality and society’s perceptions of disability. Through his work, he invites viewers to engage with his story, cultivating empathy and understanding across diverse experiences.