Meet Matthew Harvey | Multimedia Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matthew Harvey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matthew, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
My favorite quote I use daily and all my life growing up is “YAK”, which stands for “You Already Know”. The term derived from me constantly being in the animation studio and my friends use to always asked me what my plans were for the day. My response was always “You Already Know”, and because they knew me so well, they understood what that response meant because I would literally wake up every day and do the exact same thing. The phrase later became a clothing brand of mine, then later changed the name to Internal Divinity, which is the name of my studio now.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
In most cases most of the works of art I create are a depiction of me in some shape or form or in most cases inspired by my favorite artists. Not a lot of people may understand my work of art or my point of view and that’s one thing that sets me apart from other artists. The beauty about this however, as a viewer you are able to look at someone’s work of art and create your own story and it’s a special feeling when my work of art can uplift certain people that may be going through something at the time. Interestingly enough I’ve always had this weird passion for joining the navy, unfortunately, when I graduated high school, my parents encouraged me to go to art school. The Art institute of Atlanta that is, graduating with a bachelor’s in media arts & animation which opened the doors for me as an artist. Sadly, I did not get any luck getting an art job that would pique my interest and due to me paying out of pocket for school I was not able to partake in any internship programs. One lesson I’ve learned though was that I truly wish that I would have taken High School a lot more seriously whereby I could have possibly earned a few scholarships for college. After graduating college, the journey became a roller coaster. My college ended up shutting down shortly after due to multiple financial scenarios so any assistance getting a job or referral was out the window. Moreover, the grind does not stop. I later focused on doing freelance art, using those funds I earned to eventually get what I needed for my own in-home studio. The journey was not easy, and I still overcome obstacles till this day as we know the cost of living continuously rises. Give or take, there will always be challenges in life and if the world can know anything about me is that I will pray each and every day and anything is possible as long as you keep pushing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I moved here in Atlanta in 2007 from living in Irvine, California for some years. One thing I will say is that a lot of people may disagree, but I feel like Atlanta has some of the best tasting foods in the United States. If any friends of mine come for a visit the first thing we are doing is grabbing some food and what a better way to do it than go to the Atlanta belt line or Little Five Points. Theres so many things to do here from site seeing to even exploring some areas where a lot of great films were made. The Vortex or Front Page News may be my go-to as far as food, drinks and hanging out. Atlanta is also known for parties and club events where you can meet celebrities face to face and many live concerts go down at the States Farm Arena as well.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The biggest shoutout that I put on top of my list will always be God. Waking up each and every day with the opportunity to be more successful is always a blessing. In most of my works of art it’s clear that God is always involved. The love and support of my family and friends always encouraged me to be a better person and a better artist as well. Big shoutout to my grandma Pearl who passed away in 2022. She would be the first person I would show a drawing to as a kid and she would be so impressed telling me all the time that I am talented. One of my inspirations growing up that lead to my dream of being an artist was watching Cartoon Network. I’ve always had love and passion for drawing so Cartoon Network brought out the best of me as a kid growing up. It’s funny because as a kid I did not like to read at all but if you stumbled across me in the early ages of school you would find me reading a Goosebumps book. I’ve always had an interest in Horror as well which also plays a part in some of my work.

Website: https://harveyrmatthew.wixsite.com/portfolio

Instagram: @bluecarmatt

Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/matthew-harvey-185b2845

Twitter: https://x.com/The_IDStudioz

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1Auy36HEZX/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@internaldivinitystudioz

Other: email: harveyrmatthew@gmail.com

Image Credits
Photo of me on the blue bridge, image cred goes to Michael Patton @oniphotos on instagram
Photos of me in studio and wearing the black and white shirts credit goes to @slimsoforeign on all platforms