Matt Watkins (UK,1973) is an artist and designer living and working in London. He graduated from Lancaster University with a BA in Visual Arts (1994-97) and from Wimbledon School of Art, the University of the Arts London, with an MA in Fine Art: Drawing (1997-98).

From 2003-05 he was publisher of Tate Etc. magazine before moving to international gallery Haunch of Venison as Director of Communications and Publications. In 2014 he co-founded, with Ben Tufnell, the contemporary gallery Parafin in Woodstock Street, London, which operated until 2024.

The recent series of ‘Sgraffito’ drawings have been made in response to the vernacular architecture of the Engadine valley, in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.

SGRAFFITO is the traditional technique of decorating the façades of buildings with decorative motifs and typography, created by scratching through a layer of plaster to reveal a contrasting colour underneath. This technique, which originated in Italy and was brought to the Engadine around the 15th century, involves applying layers of plaster, often tinted in different colours, and then scratching away the top layer to etch through to the surface below.