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A skilled portrait painter and multidisciplinary artist, Madeline Grace Martin's work honors the lives of community members and family. In Of Words and Trees: A Collaboration with My Father, Martin builds upon the work that her father began, creating visual art to accompany his writing. This new body of work reflects upon the roles he occupied as father, husband, boxer, writer, social worker, teacher, and planter of trees.
In a variety of media, Martin gives new life to the words of her father. Hand-cut black paper curves and spins with the titles of his poems and stories reflecting on the inexact quality of memory. Mandalas of pinecone scales collected from the trees he planted radiate in circles, the ripples and currents evidence of his once physical presence.
This show is a visual representation of healing and mystery, of asking questions that may not have conclusive answers: How do we repay our elders? How do we honor our parents? How do we stay connected to those who have died? Can art-making heal loss?
