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Martha
Walker
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 Inner Sanctum welded steel, 16" x 12" x 13" |
 Embrace puddled steel, 30" x 24" x 24" |
 Passion Unfurled puddled steel, 80" x 48" x 32" |
 Secret Spot puddled steel, 11" x 22" x 18" |
 Birth welded steel, puddled process 84" x 31" x 31" |
 Pearl 18" x 29" x 25" |
 Aphrodite welded steel, puddled process 36" round x 24" deep, suspended (Comes with custom-designed self-supporting arcs for installation) |
 T'Kiyyah, Sound of the Shofar welded steel, puddled process 20" x 18" x 12" |
 Pacific Crater welded steel, puddled process 16" round x 6" deep |
 Hope welded steel, puddled process 42" x 18" x 18" |
Accompanying text on Hope: "It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart." -- Anne Frank
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 Nest welded steel, puddled process 12" round |
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Artist Profile Martha Walker was born in 1953 in Kansas City, Missouri. After several moves in the U.S. in 1961 her family moved to Sweden for three years, spending one year in a remote forest location. They returned to the U.S. in Miami Beach, Florida before moving to Brooklyn, New York, where Martha attended Pratt Institute from 1971-1976, majoring in sculpture and drawing. She earned her Masters Degree at Pratt Institute and graduated with honors. The unusual travel history of her youth was precipitated by her parents' desire to travel. Her father, Leonard was a nuclear physicist opposed to the arms race, opting instead for medical research. (Leonard was credited with the original use of radioactive isotopes as a means of tracking infection and cancer in the lymph system.) His research laboratory was a place that Martha frequented, viewing microorganisms under the microscope, something that she sites to this day as an influence on her abstract visual perspective. Additionally, Martha's middle brother, David, was an avid painter, who "raised the bar" for her artistically. Other influences on Martha came from the frequent relocations as a child. The most obvious was the disparate geography that she observed, from the American Plains, to the Pacific Coast and mountain ranges, along with the rich Swedish forests, followed by the Atlantic Ocean and sandy beaches in Florida. Cultural influences have also impacted her work. In almost every new place, Martha became aware of what it meant to be an outsider, looking in, especially in Europe, where she became acquainted with Jewish children whose parents were survivors of the Holocaust. This had a profound effect on her, even as a nonreligious Jew, resulting occasionally in work with themes of Jewish identity and the Holocaust. Her work has been shown in numerous exhibitions and featured in the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue. It is in many collections including the Zimmerli Art Museum. The text that accompanies her piece "Hope" are words by Anne Frank: "It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart." Martha established her first welding studio in 2001. She is now living in Brooklyn, married with two children. Read an interview with Martha Walker by Melissa Goldberg in the Manhattan Arts International Ezine. |
