ARTIST STATEMENT

As an interdisciplinary artist with a background in illustration and design, my work occupies a space between book and body. I use text, textiles, and other supporting materials (often with a DIY construction component) to investigate how we social beings adapt to, buckle under, resist, or re-purpose the limits of communication.

Parenthood informs my practice both physically and conceptually. Since the birth of my son, I began constructing most of my pieces from small parts that can be made separately and cleaned up quickly. There is a textural and conceptual density to my work that mirrors the maternal multi-tasking. Perhaps most poignantly, though, I find my work turning towards an examination of vulnerability—before we have words and as we learn what they mean. 

—KRISTIN MARTIN