Artist Statement

Nat Martin’s show “Untitled Afternoon” is a collection of small objects made outside the studio, within the orbit of his family. The title of the show suggests a blurring of life and art making, with a practice that is not reliant on the isolation of the art studio. Intimate, poetic, humorous and sometimes mournful, they are made of the stuff of life and family. In Martin’s words: “There are many references of our domestic life and what was around us - tipping laundry, toys, birthday cakes, aging, clutter, love, school projects, unfinished projects, marriage, cherubs, joy, sadness, mini golf.” The work in the show has both a sense of discovery and surprise.   They were inspired by the uninhibited creativity of his young kids, who were sometimes also his artistic collaborators.  

Known for his photography, Martin initially had no intentions of exhibiting his sculpture, rather he referred to their fabrication as his playground, a place where there were limitless possibilities of what he could make and the materials he could use.  All the work reflects the poetry of everyday life and parenting with all its foibles and triumphs. Home and Art collide, Martin’s 12-year-old child has a memory of Martin at the stove cooking salmon, while melting a wax Minnie Mouse for the next piece.

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