"Matt’s work is compelling, straddling installation and live performance. I found Matt’s movement to be quite rigorous, riveting, disciplined, focused, and fun to watch. Matt has good control over his body - knows where to put it, and when to move it. His powerful dancing threatens to sweat or break right through his confining costume. An absolute pleasure to watch - reminds one of the fabulously tense play with gender and performativity of Pina Bausch. In summation, Matt Pierce is a force to reckoned with!"

Melissa Ragona
Visual Culture and Critical Theory, Carnegie Mellon



"A thousand gestures of thankfulness for Matt's work. The research is important in establishing a creative equilibrium for the role of spirituality in the arts right now [as] the arts ultimately contribute to larger political, religious and national contexts. Matt has something to offer that is ultimately transformative."

Bryan Saner
Goat Island Performance Group



"Matt is a committed artist who has created a body of work that investigates the intersection of the live body in physical space with the represented body on the screen. This work draws on, and shows a deep understanding of a collision of art forms: dance, performance art, and video installation. Because of this Matt has an artistic and theoretical understanding of the integration of movement in both 2D and 3D space. His work not only engages in issues of the body in its presentation, it also engages the body of the viewer. When I watch his work I experience an intake of breath, a faster beating of my heart. In this way his work brings the body of the viewer directly into dialogue with the artwork itself. This level of execution and control is rare."

Michelle Citron
Chair, Interdisciplinary Arts Department, Columbia College Chicago