Matt Queen (b. 1978) is an American ink painter. His work is a balance of minimalist rendering and heavy atmospheric brushwork. He completes each painting in a single sitting with a single brush, giving the work an immediacy and sense of meditative performance. To Queen, stone-ground ink represents permanence, while the visible brushstrokes capture the ephemeral activity of painting. His images are somber, dramatic, and intentionally timeless.
Growing up with the gritty high-contrast aesthetics of 1980s and 90s comic icons like Jim Lee, Jae Lee, and Bill Sienkiewicz, Queen’s early passion for ink was rooted in Graphic Noir. In his adult practice, that foundational intensity has shifted inward, moving away from literal storytelling to an exploration of presence, contemplation, and the indifference of nature.