Jane Martin
Martin was born in Brooklyn, grew up on Long Island where she spent summers on Peconic Bay, and subsequently spent much of her adult life between France and New York City. She studied art in Tours, France under the direction of a former assistant to and student of Hans Hoffmann and evolved as an abstract painter. Exposure to artistically compelling European cinema led her back to New York City where she studied filmmaking at New York University. After a career in filmmaking in both NYC and Paris with the likes of Al Pacino and Gregory Colbert, she directed the documentary film Silent Sentries, broadcast on PBS.
In 1996 she established an art studio on the Lower East Side, returning to painting as a means of creative expression. In 2004, after nearly 15 years of city life, she moved her home and studio to East Hampton, New York, where the focus of her work shifted to the primal and powerful forces found in nature, in particular through her long love for and practice of photography.
Martin’s work has been exhibited in numerous museums, art fairs and galleries in New York City, the East End, Miami, Santa Fe, Dallas, Los Angeles, Australia, and Europe. She has had solo exhibitions at Guild Hall (East Hampton, NY) and Islip Art Museum (Islip, NY). Her photographs were part of a three-person exhibition at The Church, Sag Harbor from 2021 to 2022. Martin's work can also be found in the permanent collection of the Parrish Art Museum (Southampton, NY), Guild Hall (East Hampton, NY) and in numerous corporate and private collections throughout the world, including Pfizer, Alec Baldwin, and David & Sybil Yurman.
“For me, painting is an act of faith. When I approach the white canvas I open myself to a meditative state that allows color and form to rush in. Then I often paint or scrape over existing layers, leaving traces of what has come before. This creates a seemingly direct connection with nature, however abstract.
In my photography I am drawn to water in all its forms. In The Break series, my study of of the ocean captures the 'moment between moments' of surf, invisible to our human eye. These images reveal the inherent sensuality and power of the ocean on the East End, creating a visceral experience for the viewer.
Since I moved to East Hampton sixteen years ago nature has increasingly called to me in my work—asking for recognition, as I attune myself to its rhythms and celebrate its beauty.”
— JM
FLOW I, 2024, Acrylic on Wood Panel (Diptych), 30 x 60”
ODE TO A BEECH TREE, 2024, Acrylic on Wood Panel 30 x 30”
SPRINGS ETERNAL, 2025, Acrylic on Canvas, 48 x 48”
BLUE RIVER, 2025, Oil on Wood Panel, 20 x 20”
SPRING RIOT, 2025, Acrylic on Canvas, 30 x 60” (Diptych)
INDIGO WAVE, 2025, Acrylic on Canvas, 40 x 60”
CONFLUENCE, 2025, Acrylic on Canvas, 40 x 60”
THE BREAK #24, Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuele Photo Rag, Dimensions Variable
THE BREAK #22, Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuele Photo Rag, Dimensions Variable
EARTH RISING VIII, Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuele Photo Rag, Dimensions Variable