Matt Yellowman didn’t start carving folk art until 1996 when he collaborated with fellow folk artist, Rena Juan. In earlier days, Rena carved and Matt painted. After watching Rena carve, he developed his own style.
Matthew was born in Montezuma Creek, Utah, to Hugh and Helen Yellowman. As a young boy, he bounced from town to town. The constant moving led to a variety of experiences and to what he describes as an ecumenical upbringing, a memory which elicited a laugh from Matthew. Because he bounced around so much, whenever he reached a new community, he was baptized into another church. He was part of the Mormon Placement Program and lived with a family from Ogden, Utah, for ten years. Today, he follows the traditional teachings of his parents as well as the Native American Church. He is interested in passing along not only the traditional ways to his two children, Camille and Lamont, but his art experience as well.
His artistic abilities showed themselves at an early age. Matthew finished high school in Ogden, Utah, and had six months vocational training in masonry. He has done oil paintings as well as decorated ceramics. He did not start carving wood until 1996 when he got together with fellow folk artist, Rena Juan. He watched Rena carve for awhile, but was compelled to develop his own style of carving. Today, the two of them work together bouncing ideas off of one another and chuckling as an idea evolves into a carving. Their inspiration is all around them as they continuously search for new ideas.
Matthew was making carvings of Native American people from other parts of the country, but was encouraged by Rena to depict Navajo people. Never sketching his ideas, he starts working the wood to create sometimes very complicated movement such as a bucking bull or a man on a trotting horse. He also likes carving the Yei but is careful not to offend in creating this special intermediary of the Navajo people.
Matthew hopes if he continues to work hard and excel at his carving that people will come to recognize his work. For the future of his carving, Matt hopes to carve a truly "monumental" piece, a carving which would depict a traditional scene in Monument Valley.
