Barbara Martin: The Distance Between

March 5 – August 28, 2020

The Jansen Art Center is pleased to welcome Barbara Martin to the Chamber Hall for an exhibit of her work this Spring. The exhibit, The Distance Between, opens with a reception from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM on Thursday, March 5. Martin will be giving a live demo during the reception. Enjoy Live Music in the Piano Lounge, meet the artists, and explore all of our Spring Exhibits.

Barbara Martin is a contemporary painter known for high energy, gestural mark-making, and intuitive abstract works as well as for her “Super Ply” series of surreal creatures painted in black and white. Her award-winning work has been exhibited nationally.  Recent achievements include residencies awarded by Jentel Foundation for the Arts, Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, and Hypatia-in-the-Woods and significant grants from the Oregon Arts Commission and the Regional Arts and Culture Commission.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My family moved often while I was growing up. Initially, the moves were from one state to another and we traveled by car while our household goods were transported by moving van. Soon we graduated to moving overseas.  Our 800 pounds of household goods were crated, we each packed a suitcase, and then we flew halfway around the world to Africa. I’ve now lived on three continents and a dozen states coast to coast.

Travel has taught me that “distance” means many things: geographic miles measured on a map, unspoken differences in cultural customs, self-imposed protective psychological space.  Too, as an artist, I discover new distances every day while pushing my creative boundaries.

With this show, I invite you to consider the many ways we perceive “distance” — from the plat map to the solar system, ways we might communicate across implied or inferred distances, and how we humans are linked simply by sharing the same distance from the sun day in and day out.