Harmonic Trading Scholarship

         Matthew Hoerster is a versatile multimedia artist proficient in painting, graphic design, video production, and textile design. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, and prior to that, attended Glenbard West High School and St. Petronille Elementary School during his upbringing in suburban Chicago. 

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Hoerster's artistic journey was profoundly shaped by his grandmother, a fine artist, skilled oil painter, and primary school art teacher, whose creativity left an indelible mark during his formative years. The artistic vein in the family history extends further and includes Hoerster’s maternal aunt, a degreed graphic designer with deep aptitude in drawing and printmaking, as well as a maternal great aunt, Hermine Stellar, an early 20th century painter and instructor at Central Washington University, the University of Nebraska, and the Art Institute of Chicago, where she also exhibited and won notable awards. Hoerster's own foray into artistic pursuits began at the young age of three in preschool, where drawing  captured his imagination. From there, Hoerster consistently nurtured his passion for sketching, while concurrently developing interests in filmmaking, typography, and fashion design. Post high school, he inherited his grandmother's oil paints, impassioning him to further his craft through dedicated study under esteemed artists Edwina Lucas and John Alexander in Long Island, NY, during the summer of 2021, and later under Derrick Buisch in Madison, WI.

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Since then, Hoerster has committed himself to advancing his proficiency in painting. In addition to his dedication to the fine arts, in 2020 he founded Digital Threadlock, a clothing company that champions the creation of handmade, one-of-a-kind garments and accessories through the repurposing and graphic embellishment of existing clothing. Endeavoring to infuse elements of film, textile, and design into each artistic medium, Hoerster draws inspiration from luminaries in both the cinematic and fine arts worlds, citing directors such as Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, and Ingmar Bergman, as well as painters like Hieronymus Bosch, Gerhard Richter, Albrecht Altdorfer, and Euan Uglow. Other influences on Hoerster’s work include his curiosity about assorted topics of personal interest, including history, music, the 1980s, antiques/anything retro, cameras and video camcorders, and the outdoors (fueled by many seasons spent at the family cottage in Michigan's Upper Peninsula). 

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With clients in the textile, real estate, financial, and music industries, Hoerster envisions dedicating himself in the short-term to the continued pursuit of his various artistic endeavors while embarking on travels across Europe and the United States, followed by aspirations to contribute to the graphic design field. Eyeing the more distant future, Hoerster harbors the ambition of becoming a painting instructor, aspiring to impart his knowledge and passion to future generations.