“But inch for inch, the most absorbing work on view was STRIKE/LIGHT, an installation by J. Alex Mathews. Composed of dozens of handmade, individually painted matchboxes spread across the top of a wood table—along with a few photographic images and an arrangement of votive candles and matches—the work sat quietly in one corner of the gallery and may have gone unnoticed by hurried visitors. Given a little time, the tiny boxes presented themselves as artworks, visual poems, or receptacles of memory with the potential of lighting up the world. In the context of an exhibition inspired by a chapter of feminist history, the installation appeared to be an archive in and of itself.”
— Artistswork UK, Simon Othen, 2017
“Also by the operations of the viewer’s hand, J. Alex Mathews’ STRIKE/LIGHT requires intimate audience actions in a cumulative durational gesture of moments. A tray of tea light candles and matchboxes is nestled amid a sea of makeshift portraits and presentations from art and anthropology, executed on matchboxes as well, formulating an altar to and by a parade of souls passing through. Visceral and romantic, with the warm scent of sulfur and wax, this work speaks to the idea and action of ritual, with no religion except the paying of attention.”
