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. Martin has had solo exhibitions at Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY and Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY. Her 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.
“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
Getting Quiet Inside IV, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 in
Getting Fiery Inside II, 2020, acrylic on wood panel, 20 x 20 in
Getting Fiery Inside I, 2020, acrylic and silver leaf on wood panel, 16 x 16 in
Day for Night, 2021, acrylic on wood panel, 20 x 16 in
Blue III, 2021 acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 in
Force Majeure XVIII, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 34 x 34 in