For CercaTrova Design president, Matthew Shively, design is an intuitive, imaginative and intentional intervention to shape the world into places that will inspire, nurture, amaze and amuse us.
Matthew seeks to find connotative meaning in material, form and detail and expose and juxtapose those meanings in new contexts. Current projects include pairing reclaimed wood elements and joinery techniques from Kentucky horse farms with modern synthetics and industrial processes. The finished pieces draw no conclusions, but rather frame inquiry and discovery.
A Florida native, Matthew received a degree in business from the University of Florida. In 1999, pursuing his passion for music, he founded Subversion Records, an underground record shop in Gainesville, FL. Surrounded by music during
the day and DJing by night for five years did much to shape Matthew’s creative vision and gave him a springboard with which to enter the world of design. In 2005, he moved to his current residence in Lexingont, KY, to work on his family’s thoroughbred horse farm as business manager and design consultant for renovations and new structures.
Over the next two years Matthew followed design trends and educated himself on the fundamentals of space and furniture design, but the pivotal moment in his career was when he saw the images of Steven Holl’s Stone and Feather addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. He knew at that moment that he was hooked and must pursue his true passion full-time. Thus, CercaTrova Design was formed.