Photographic works and mixed media by Hampton Bays artist Matthew Raynor will be exhibited at LTV Studios in Wainscott. An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 10, from 3 to 7 PM.
Curated by artist and the host of LTV’s “Hello, Hello,” Haim Mizrahi, the show will feature works by Raynor taken both before and after the accident, which left the former commercial fisherman paralyzed from the collarbone down.
Growing up on the East End, Raynor became a deep-sea fisherman and bayman, chronicling his offshore adventures with a Nikon. When not at sea, Raynor developed a deep love for travel, spending time in the Far East, South America, Europe, and the Caribbean.
After three back-to-back seven-day fishing expeditions, Raynor’s chronic tendonitis flared up. He found relief in daily polar plunges in early spring. On one such day in April 2019, he suffered a horrid and unexpected injury. While diving with his close friend and fellow artist Jerome Lucani in the waters off Towd Point, he broke five vertebrae in his neck. Raynor passed out, face down, in the frigid emerald waters and drifted out to sea, only to be saved and revived by Lucani.
Raynor lost feeling and movement in 85 percent of his body, including his hands and forearms. Unable to perform the simplest tasks, such as feeding himself or using the toilet, he found himself starting a new and extraordinarily challenging life. As time went on, the list of things he could do grew, from just being able to watch TV to flying a photography drone and operating a computer. He picked up his old passion for photography and began experimenting with mixed media. It seems healing was to be found in creating, and art would be Raynor’s saving grace.
Currently, Raynor is unhoused and living at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. A complete catalog of his work can be found at matthewraynor.com.