TOM MARTIN

British, b. 1986

“My work is very much an exploration of what it is to be human in this current time, in the now. To be more specific, what it is to be human from my perspective. There are so many different elements to life that we all have to some how fit together, be they work, or leisure or family etc. All of these things have to find their own space within time.

I’m very much interested in how objects can be in flux with the passing of time. I create still lives which are subjected to ‘happenings’ and shifts in energy causing directed chaos and elements of surprise. Capturing moments during these happenings throws up new and unexpected perspectives. In a way the work is self indulgent, I’m trying to figure out how my life hangs together and more over what the purpose of it all is.

My paintings are a transcendence of representational painting in that they share the same origins. Layering up this various source material retaining certain parts and rejecting others, through multiple techniques, come forth unexpected elements of abstraction on the canvas. I’m interested in finding form from and giving meaningful purpose to these abstractions whilst preserving their origins.”

Studio Insights