Susan Martin

Artist Statement

I am attracted to the chaos of growth and competition in nature. The thickets of branches and leaves provide a wealth of material from which I can select a tight, complex composition of lines, shapes, and patterns, with a special affinity for the interplay of positive and negative shapes. By eliminating the context normally provided by the background, and studying a subject close-up, the abstract qualities are emphasized and the composition becomes a thing apart from its representation of plant life, with a life and value of its own.

It also becomes personal. This series of intimate landscapes seek to elicit that magical moment when ones steps into and becomes a part of the natural world, when the rustle of leaves in the breeze and occasional bird calls are the only sounds but there is life all around, and one is only an insignificant part of it.