Caryn Martin

Statement

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My studio practice is situated at an intersection between photography, printmaking, and painting. I install and photograph small landscape paintings in interior spaces, often placing them at spatial transitions. The resulting digital photographs, when printed, upend the distinction between the documentation and production of an art object.

 

The matte surface of the pigment prints helps to create a trompe l’oeil effect—the paintings appear to be collaged on top of the photographs, thus reinforcing a sense of spatial ambiguity. In this body of work, there is an acknowledgment of the artifice of the photograph while also negating the tangibility of the painted object.

 

Windows and screens are recurring motifs in my work, often referring to perception and a desire to move from one space to another. In this time of COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders, the experience of looking from an interior space to an invented exterior space is relatable and, at times, emotionally charged.

 

In addition to my photographic output, I create abstract monotype installations in interior spaces to reference landscape. In these works, fragments push and pull apart as they attempt to construct a cohesive view. While contained within a larger rectangle, the paper remnants curl from the wall and into the viewer’s physical space, thus challenging notions of the pictorial.