Artist Statement

My studio practice is situated at an intersection between painting, printmaking, and photography, and is influenced by a dissociative experience of place. While the work is driven by my personal history, the feeling of spatial disconnect is shared by many; in this age of digital realities, our sense of place and “where” we exist is in a constant state of flux. ​ In my work, spatial ambiguity takes the form of altered interior spaces and invented, unpopulated landscape. In interior scenes, paper interventions are used as a “window” from the space, as a visual interruption, or as a scrim. Lighting and layered materials obscure surfaces in order to reinforce a sense of spatial confusion. Many bodies of work utilize screens and windows as motifs to allude to perception. In others, landscape acts as metaphor, communicating themes of avoidance, isolation, and escape. ​ Photographs are often presented as pigment prints on adhesive matte paper, scaled to nearly life- size. Many works blur the line between documentation and art while challenging notions of authenticity, hierarchies in medium, and the art object as product.

Artist Bio

Caryn Martin is a Baltimore-based artist and educator. She received her MFA and MAT degrees from Maryland Institute College of Art and her BA from the University of Maryland, College Park. Solo exhibitions include "Things Left Unsaid" and "Atmospheric Abstractions" at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore.