Beyond the Botanical —
Mare Martin
A solo exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Louisiana artist Mare Martin that explore the ephemeral and intimate cycles of nature
Mare Martin invites us into a richly textured world where the rhythms of nature, the human spirit, and the cosmos meet. The artist seamlessly integrates her life on the land into her artistic practice. There is a sense of care in her application of line and color. Her beautifully rendered paintings and drawings possess a delicate ephemerality, ranging from abstract washes of ink, watercolor, and oil to undulating lines created with pencil or thin brushstrokes. Thick impasto layers of paint echo geological time, while glowing light and clay-laden frames echo the elements of earth and ether. Each piece is a living field where all elements live in visual harmony. Seen together, perspectives of time and space are compressed, evoking the cycles of life, death, and decay simultaneously. Her studio and gardening practice include daily drawing, not as a way to capture a moment or represent what she sees, but as a fundamental way of knowing the world.
About Mare Martin
Mare Martin was born in Southwest Louisiana of Cajun descent and grew up on a small farm in Opelousas, LA. Her father worked for the Department of Agriculture, and each member of the family of seven was deeply involved in every aspect of farmwork. As much a gardener as an artist, the practices are intertwined and deeply rooted in her life on farms and working with gardens in Louisiana, the Southwest United States, and Spain. For the better part of the last two decades, Martin’s work has been inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s The Metamorphosis of Plants and what he called Exact Sensorial Imagination. His method encouraged a deepened awareness of form through the reinforcement of sense memory and imagination. Her studio practice, garden design, and gardening include drawing—not as a way to capture a moment or represent what she sees, but as a fundamental way of knowing.
Mare Martin on Drawing, Meditation, and the Intelligence of Nature
In this extended interview, artist Mare Martin reflects on a lifetime of looking closely—at plants, at matter, and at the quiet intelligence of the natural world.
