Elucidate exhibition, July 27th – Aug 17th 2019. With words by Clementine Ford.

Above is the beautifully designed invitation to my upcoming exhibition – Elucidate.

It opens Saturday July the 27th at 1 to 3PM and the exhibition runs until August 17th. At Scott Livesey Galleries – 909A High St, Armadale, VIC.

I was also very lucky to have Clementine Ford write a piece about the works – it was really ace of her to give me the time and words. Thanks CF.

Elucidate by Clementine Ford

The first time I saw Lily Mae Martin’s work, I was overcome by a range of different feelings. Terror. Pain. Anxiety. Sadness. And amidst all of this, the overwhelming sense of recognition. Martin speaks to an unspoken aspect of womanhood and motherhood in particular that is so often ignored. Her work is confronting and brave, unshackled from the fear of niceties that women so often feel we need to conform to.

The sense of being bound and restricted is common in Martin’s pieces, and Elucidate brings this to the forefront. Her representations of women shielded by their hair and tethered in ropes call to my mind the image of Medusa. Mythologized as a monster and enemy to men, Medusa’s story has been used for centuries as a warning to women who exist outside of the margins of social acceptability. Martin explores the idea of the monstrous feminine, using sparseness, shadow and the imagery of shackles to conversely represent women in our most untethered forms. The blooming bellies of pregnancy speak to a power that has terrified patriarchy throughout history. Faces sheathed in veils of hair speak to our inscrutability, while ropes binding our arms across breasts remind us of the ways this power has been brutalised and tamed. 

It’s impossible to view Martin’s work without a sense of anger. Not at the artist herself, but at what she is seeking to uncover and give voice to. Like Medusa, Martin’s figures are mythical in nature. In the age of #MeToo and riding the crest of a new tidal wave of women’s power and liberation, Elucidate makes clear what history has tried for so long to bury – that women are so much more than we have been taught we are allowed to be. We are complicated, horrifying, rageful, connected and powerful. What is considered monstrous in us is our blazing humanity and life. Our bodies have been abused and tormented, but we alone are the ones who own them and control the direction of our stories. 

Martin’s ability to depict so clearly what strikes fear into the heart of man is astonishing. Elucidate is a condemnation of history and patriarchy, but it is also a shattering call to arms to reconnect with our true nature. I am grateful to have been exposed to Martin’s work, and cannot wait for others to experience the revelation of self that each and every one of her pieces calls to.

 

Sketches from Scotland

Home is so lovely, being away for three weeks I forgot how beautiful ( parts ) of our house are. It is still very much a work in progress and it’s pretty special.

I unpacked the very next day after arriving back to Australia. Very keen to unwind, get the washing done, settle back in. It’s just over a week now and I am still waking up at 4am but no matter. I think it is harder to adjust when home because now it’s quite dark and the adventure is over. It’s school drop off, pick up, grocery shopping and vacumming. It’s avoiding my studio and worrying about the too many houseplants I have to keep alive.

The last month has been a transformative. I’m dropping a few habits and some decisions have been made for me so I’ve just got to go with it. But doesn’t travel do that for you? Give you a bit of perspevtive and a shove into another direction. I planned a lot of this trip which I’ve never done before and boy I got a lot of things wrong but I learned a lot.

We were in Edinburgh for less than 24hours, which was my first mistake. Edinburgh is an amazing city, and being the end of spring it was very green and exciting to be there. We were originally meant to stay a couple of nights however I had wanted us to go to Fair Isle, but accommodation was only available for two days after we landed. I switched up our plans to stay in Edinburgh and Inverness one night each and then head out to the Isle. I knew it was a lot but Fair Isle is remote and you’ve just got to go with it. I’d wanted to stay at the Bird Observatory as my reasons for visiting was to see the wild life. Sadly earlier this year it burnt to the ground. I am truly sorry for them and I hope they are able to rebuild. I re routed our adventure to visit Orkney Island, which was a little easier to get too and had more options of places to stay. I can’t even begin to describe our time there, Gene had found an Inn and it was a unique experience in the best kind of way. One that I am grateful to have had. I don’t think our stay on Orkney would have been quite as special had of we not stayed there. I will post some drawings about this place in future.

Edinburgh

 

Museum of childhood, Edinburgh

 

View of the Scott Monument, Victorian Gothic style. Dedicated to Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott.

Before we departed Edinburgh we visited an art store because that is important and behind it was the Greyfriars kirkyard. It was very pretty, filled with community herb gardens, birds, squirrels and full of dark history.

Perfect.

The Witches’ Well

Then things were a little less fun because there was miscommunication. We got lost so I won’t write about that day though we did end up having a comfortable sleep and that is important.

Orkney! I have so much more to say about this place but as I said above, I’ll write about that later as I have more little drawings to add. I will say though that I got to see some puffins! It was at the end of our second day, and I admit that I had been dragging the family about, combing the seacliffs looking, looking, looking. Bloody bugs in our faces, hot sun on the backs of our necks and wind that could steal your breath right out of your mouth. I was really enjoying the different kinds of seabirds and coming to accept hey, we weren’t going to see the puffins when, like a gift, a little pair landed on a rocky ridge right beneath me. First thing I thought was that they were so much smaller than I had expected, I couldn’t believe they were real. Then, as in most of my dreams, I reached for my camera and couldn’t get a good shot, but no matter. I whispered for my daughter to come quietly and oh the joy of pointing them out to her. Not long before this sighting I had been talking with her about patience; ” bird / animal/ nature watching requires a lot of patience and respect“. We then got Gene to come and see and I managed to take some OK photos. A razorbill also decided to join them, which is another magnificent sea bird.

What a goddamn gift.

Next stop was Ullapool, we were so tired and very lucky to be staying with a lovely little family so Kidlet got to spend most of the day playing in the trees with another little girl. There was a very special tree I have done a few sketches on, again, that’s another post for the future.

Ullapool is a beautiful town; red squirrels, purple flowers and bumble bees, beautiful loch views and the seafood shack. Again I wish we had stayed a couple of more nights!

We moved onto the Isle of Skye. Which was a place we were told to go but definitely didn’t expect it to be as beautiful as it is. How can you when you’ve not seen it before.

I drew this there. I didn’t walk up to this area. I should mention that I was still really sick with whatever this nasty virus is. I thought that that would be the death of me but then we did an accidental hike afterwards and that well and truly took the life out of me. We walked ( most of ) the Quiraing. Oh my goodness, words will fail me so I’ll post drawings.. again, another post.

I sketched this in the car from isle of Skye to Oban.

Last stop in Scotland was Oban. Such a great town, we had a good time looking around and went on a little boat trip and saw some seals. On Isle of Skye I had wanted to do a wildlife boat tour but as I read about them it talked about how they fed the wildlife. I’m unsure if that that is ok? So because I wasn’t sure I decided not to do it. This little trip we just observed the playful and very pregnant seals. That is more than enough.

Anyway, there’s more to come as we stopped in England for a couple of days and Wales for the best part of a week. Also there were more drawings but I didn’t include them as there’s just so many. I’ll break them up into different posts when I can as I very much want and need to Get Back To Work.

 

Speak soon and thanks for reading

Lily Mae x

 

 

Little drawings from lately.

I haven’t been able to write in a long time, so I’m just going to post my drawings. There’s a lot I haven’t shared, but at the moment, as long as I am making – that’s my priority.

I know stories with the drawings is lovely, details and describtions and full blog posts are ideal. I just cannot do it all. Marketing and networking, grant writing and researching ( reading, writing – why are you so hard ) There are only so many hours in the day, week, months and years. Lately I have been pretty proud of how prolific I am in my sketching, drawing and painting. And doing it with my kid too. Wow eight year olds are bloody fantastic!

 


Lake Wendouree, there are many birds to watch and visit and enjoy.

Ballarat, Victoria

Enviromental distruction from 100+ years ago.

Goldfields, Western Victoria

” This is our favourite tree” – Botanical Gardens, Ballarat

 

( Always ) Drawing unicorns – a gift for a special friend.

 

Sleeping through Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

 

 

New little drawings

Hello – I have been working hard on making more little drawings to take down to Melbourne to sell. I have a folio there with smaller, unframed works. They have been going at a steady rate so it is time to make some more. Here’s a sample of some that I have completed so far..


Hands
Ink on cotton paper
19x14cm
Lily Mae Martin


Softer, softest
Ink on cotton paper
19x14cm
Lily Mae Martin


Feet
Ink on cotton paper
19x14cm
Lily Mae Martin

 

 

I may frame this one –


Delicate
18x25cm
Ink on cotton paper
Lily Mae Martin

 

 

I’m trying to make my work not so dark.. Which doesn’t always go to plan. I seem to have ways I do things even though I want to change them up a bit, it’s hard to break habits.

Any interest in any of my work please contact Scott Livesey Galleries – they are awesome – at info@scottliveseygalleries.com
I also have a number of works hanging on their walls at the moment as part of the WINTER SALON 2018 and some in the stock room there.

Also –


It’s school holidays so I’m off to try and be a fun mum / person for this fortnight.

x

Little drawings ~

I have been working a lot around and during life happenings, I have quite the collection of small drawings growing that I am very proud of.
Here are a few ~


A Portrait
19 x 14cm
Ink on paper
Lily Mae Martin
2017

I’m in love with this one – the cropping of the image, the fluffiness of the hair and the texture and tones of the skin.

19 x 14cm
Ink on paper
Lily Mae Martin
2017


Fold
19 x 14cm
Ink on paper
Lily Mae Martin
2017

I’ll put together a post of all of the drawings in a couple of months. It has been very interesting cropping the images to make new images from them and working on a smaller, more intimate scale. I am really glad that someone had mentioned the idea of working smaller as I am not sure I would have come to on my own. It’s been really challenging to change things up a bit and it really didn’t work at first! But I kept going and changing things and I am pretty happy with this little series.

Sketches for drawings

Been collecting reference material and making a bunch of sketches and there’s more than this but thought I’d share these as they are pretty exciting and I love drawing forever and ever and ever.

sketchone I used a mechanical pencil for this one. I usually H A T E pencil but enjoyed this very much, until I tried to load up a new stick of graphite and it got stuck and then my husband spent some time with it with pliers and fixed it but it’s put me off. Good for sketches though!

sketchtwo

sketchthree

sketchfour

sketchfive

sketchsix

sketchseven

Bye!

Paper cranes, kissing kitty & Meanjin illustrations

cranes_lily_mae_martin
I finished Poppet’s room! Though, after a couple of nights she came out one morning and declared “I found a few more spots for you to hang more paper birds mummy” and I laughed and laughed…

fisheye_cranes_lily_mae_martin

Fabulous photos taken by Gene-he-who-is-good-at-everything.

kittylove

This picture is an outtake of something I am exploring – this kitty is truly a gift to our little family.

But, she was unimpressed:

FACE

eeyes

Also this month the new Meanjin is out ( Winter 2016 ) and I have four drawings in there, paire with words by Damon Young. Here is an example:

identity_lily_mae_martin

I am working on a mammoth drawing – a large drawing, not one of a mammoth though that would be cool also. At times I have to step away from it because it is so complex and it is doing my head in. But I am truly happy with the start that I have made and I hope to get it finished in a couple of months. A lot of work for one piece but I’m trying new things and pushing myself, which is important and must be done. I can hear Grandma saying to me “Why don’t you spend more time on your work?” Because I used to rush through things all the time.

There are other drawings and paintings forming, I haven’t digitized them, I just want to let them take form in their own good time.

New Drawings – Exhibition

new_drawings_lily_mae_martin

Dear readers,

I am very pleased and proud to announce that I have an exhibition opening next Thursday the 11th of February, 6 to 8PM at Scott Livesey Galleries in Melbourne.

I’m really proud of the work that I have made, and look forward to seeing it all together in the gallery.

The exhibition runs until the 24th of February – which covers two weekends so that should be handy for a lot of people!

Best to you,
LMM

All the drawings

untitled2015_lilymaemartin
Untitled
By Lily Mae Martin
77 x 57 cm
Ink on paper 2015
( This is the smallest one )

emerging_lilymaemartin
Emerging
112 x 76cm
By Lily Mae Martin
2015
Ink on paper
SOLD

grappling_lilymaemartin
Grappling
105 x 75cm
By Lily Mae Martin
2015
Ink on paper

untitled_lilymaemartin
Untitled
105 x 75cm
By Lily Mae Martin
2015
Ink on paper
SOLD

may2015_Untitled_lily_mae_martin
Untitled
105 x 75cm
By Lily Mae Martin
2015
Ink on paper

Ive_never_had_a_friend_like_you_lily_mae_martin
I’ve Never Had A Friend Like You
105 x 75cm
By Lily Mae Martin
2015
Ink on paper

01_lily_mae_martin
Untitled
105 x 75cm
By Lily Mae Martin
2015
Ink on paper

workingtitle02_lilymaemartin
Untitled
105 x 75cm
By Lily Mae Martin
2015
Ink on paper

workingtitle03_lilymaemartin
Untitled
105 x 75cm
By Lily Mae Martin
2015
Ink on paper

workingtitle04_lilymaemartin
Untitled
105 x 75cm
By Lily Mae Martin
2015
Ink on paper

TheLongestWinterIHaveKnown_lilymaemartin
The Longest Winter I Have Known
105 x 75cm
By Lily Mae Martin
2015
Ink on paper

bloodbonesheart_lilymaemartin
I Am Blood and Bones and A Beating Heart

Artist statement

As an artist, I have always been interested in exploring representations of femininity, femaleness and the female body in my work. One of the primary preoccupations of my work to date has been the internal world of women as communicated by the body. This is in part a response to contemporary representations of femaleness: the female body is ubiquitous, presented visually everywhere, in contexts that range from the crassly commercial to the sacred and divine – and yet these representations, to me, have always felt devoid of the female experience as I know and understand it.

In this series of drawings, I propose to examine and represent aspects of the female physical and emotional experience through the medium of ink on paper.
The composition will isolate full-length portraits of nude women within the negative space of the paper, simultaneously drawing attention to the details of each individual body, (toenails, hair, the cracks and crevices in skin) while the larger scale of the works will allow me to experiment with negative space as well as their imposition on the exhibition space and the viewer’s consciousness. This will involve the further development of my drawing technique, which focuses on rendered and layered line in tension with the white of the paper to create contours, form, light and shade.

The composition will be designed to produce an aesthetic that forces the viewer into discomfort, awareness, and ultimately empathy. To present the body as simultaneously beautiful and ugly, complex, contradictory, aspirational and despairing. The use of nudity allows the body of the subject to become its own canvas, without pretence; its tensions and twists communicating an interior dialogue without words. In this work I am inspired by the emotive power of the documentary drawings of Käthe Kollwitz; the technical skill of Albrecht Dürer; and the intimacy, vulnerability and strength in the portraiture work of photographer Sally Mann.

This project represents an important departure from my previous work, which, while exploring similar themes, has focused primarily on my own experiences, using my own body as a subject. The exploration of another person’s physicality is in many ways more difficult: it is interrogatory; a dialogue must be created between artist and subject, as well as between artist and audience. In this way it will be an important development for my skill as an artist, to communicate a multiplicity of experiences using a simple but timeless medium. Similarly, using models as subjects will open up the possibilities for the piece aesthetically, as it will allow me to have more control over the placement of the form, and more direction of the physical positioning and control over the composition of light and shade for each piece. (LMM, 2016)

For any inquiries/ sale please contact Scott Livesey Galleries
SCOTT LIVESEY GALLERIES
909A HIGH STREET, ARMADALE
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, 3143

T: +61 3 9824 7770
F: +61 3 9824 7771
E: INFO@SCOTTLIVESEYGALLERIES.COM