Justin Matherly’s (Cert. ’00) large-scale cast and concrete installations are inspired by historical artifacts, such as ancient carved stelae in his 2013 solo exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery in New York City. It was this focus on history and tradition that informed his decision to attend PAFA.

“I chose PAFA because at the time I was interested in the figure and I was very intrigued by the school’s classical approach. The most important thing I took away from my education at PAFA was the act of actually looking at things and transferring that onto another surface.” Matherly cites Jan Baltzell with helping him to "see," as well as other faculty members such as Linda Brenner, Patricia Traub and Dan Miller.

The inspiration for Matherly’s work comes from literature, anthropological artifacts, and the art of past civilizations. “There are always new understandings of things, however large or small which leads to a sort of perpetual motion. Within this process things are rarely lost completely from the understanding, they may become more or less important but still effect, as a whole, the understanding,” says Matherly.

In addition to his relationships with PAFA faculty, Matherly formed important alliances with fellow students Scott Rigby, David Dempewolf and Leigh Stevens resulting in the 2001 collaborative art project Basekamp. Matherly’s work has been featured in solo shows and group exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe.