STATEMENT
Drawn to (often) transformable (malleable) materials
Such as: wrapping paper, bark, bandages, cloth
Random arrangements of the materials
Looking at the arrangement of materials
(Re) arrangements of the materials
Looking at this arrangement of materials (again)
From different points of view
Framing (composing) using a camera
Large field of view or narrow focus
Looking at all the resulting possibilities
Choosing some, rejecting others
Changing color, value, contrast
Action. Reaction. Making a print
Looking at (print) and making connections
Finding images and weaving together
Synthesis. Meaning? Narrative?
What is the result?
Like a pile of trash? Like a landscape? Like a dream?
Taking out, putting in, changing, reverting
Making a print? Making a painting?
Intuition, analysis, sleep
BIOGRAPHY
James M. Martin was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He received his BFA from University of Texas at Austin and MFA from Texas A & M at Commerce. He was the recipient of an NEA grant in 1976-77 as artist-in-resident at the Longview Museum and Art Center in Texas.
Additionally, he has worked as a printer at Solo Press and taught lithography at Pratt Graphics Center, Manhattan Graphics Center, and Long Island University at Southampton. He was also assistant professor of Art at Marymount Manhattan College for many years. He has exhibited paintings and prints in New York, the Southwest, and internationally. In 1993, he was selected by the Port Authority to create two murals for the Central Terminal of La Guardia Airport. From his studio in Red Hook Brooklyn, he continues work on paintings of branching forms and a series of digital collages incorporating vintage botanical and anatomical images.
James Martin’s Website
