America’s embrace of the influence of art history acknowledges a wide range of artistic influence, including that of Matisse, Picasso, Leger and Chagall, but in emotional reach and painterly vocabulary are very much rooted in contemporary life. One cannot help but recognize the way she rapidly sets herself apart from her peers and propels beauty, vulnerability, refinement and poetry into our world with astonishing precision and force.

Taking inspiration from Mid-Century Modernist masters, America’s distinctive style is underscored by the use of boldly brushed lines and punctuated bursts of color to imply tone and mood. She treats her subjects with an obvious reverence, and in a manner that captures their individuality and their dignity.

above: The dining room becomes an intimate cove beside the grandeur of the entry’s stairway. Yet it gathers its own gravitas from the limestone-tiled wall that flows from the entry. The homeowner’s equestrian passion is seen in a bronze equine sculpture set between Holly Hunt’s bronze “Bell Pepper” lamps. Women on Beach by artist America Martin provides an artistic focal point

JoAnne Artman Gallery is pleased to present, Connecting the Dots, an exhibition featuring new works by America Martin. Referencing Paul Klee’s statement that, “A line is a dot that went for a walk,” the title serves as a fitting descriptor of Martin’s adept and exuberant use of line. Employing smooth, bold curves as well as hard, geometric strokes, she adheres to the most fundamental aspect of drawing - the line - to tell a story, connecting compositional elements and personal narratives throughout her practice.

Using smooth, bold curves as well as hard, geometric strokes, America Martin adheres to the most fundamental aspect of drawing…

We look back at excerpts from our conversations that highlight Martin’s studio practice, process, and the continuing inspiration for her most recent body of work.

“The idea of being present and really looking at a vista - a tree, a rock even, and seeing it change throughout a day was amazing,” she said about her plein air work around Chama last July.

It’s these sort of everyday Genre scenes that make up most of Martin’s oeuvre and justify her self-given title of “painting anthropologist,” but she has a way of romanticizing the quotidian in a way that make these moments feel monumental. While men and still life images certainly find their fair share of the limelight in her work, many of her larger-than-life paintings feature another form found throughout art history – the nude female figure. “I’m doing what art has been doing forever,” Martin says with satisfaction, “though I’m able to have more real estate – when I say “real estate,” I mean, scope of joy and confidence in the way that I portray women – because I am a woman.”

JA: Do your paintings have autobiographical elements to the narrative? Is this a reason for reoccurring themes throughout your body of work?

MARTIN: Everything is autobiographical. We are living biographies. Artists are just outside the lines about it. There are reoccurring themes, images and subject matters that I return to. These repeating images are at this point still partially responsible for the pleasure, comfort and joy I find when making a new work. For example, say when I clean the house as a rule I listen to very loud Beethoven or Billy Joel. When I paint a women resting in nature I put a small snail or a bird near her, because these are the things that draw my attention and make a moment tender. These themes repeat themselves and tend to go on with a series, until I begin finding interest in a new notion.

Im so thrilled to have been able to work with you these last 10 years JoAnne. My they have gone by fast. But my dear JoAnne, Tayler and Erin, your support and belief through this particular junction of great action and change, will always be very poignant and special to me. It is fun to see new and old work side by side. For myself, I do not have favorite works. My favorite piece in the groovy hum that I will be looking for during the process of painting or sculpting the piece I haven’t made yet. But when I look at my older work, I remember doing each piece as if it was yesterday. Although I no longer work in the same way that I did then. It is interesting to see the choices, the ways of controlling space, line and color the way I did then, next to what I do now. What a great way to start off the year. Yip Yip!