Fences
Carolyn Martin

May 30 - June 24, 2006

In this exhibition Carolyn Martin explores the white picket fence as a personal image in a series of works on paper and, for the first time, in paintings as well. In contrast to her 2003 show of installations featuring actual wood picket fences, here she uses only charcoal, pigment, collage and acrylic, delineating in each work a few white pointed uprights joined by a crossbar and set in a pitch black field. Not only do these hard edged shapes recall familiar social and racial barriers but they also evoke more sinister, global associations -- watchtowers, bullets and missiles. Fluid organic forms, drawn and overdrawn in tones of blue, black and gray, soften and obliterate the harsh backgrounds. Speaking of these new drawings and painting Martin says, "My present work has more density and volume now because I feel more drawn to investigate the contradictions and dualities that I see in words, images and experiences."

View the full Press Release here.