Jennifer Martin
FormCadenceProfile

This exhibit will include a wide range of decorative forms inspired by traditional functional objects. Martin celebrates distortion, disfigurement, and alterations, reversing the negative connotations of these words by creating works that are sensuous and rhythmic. The vessel forms in particular embody clear figurative references with their dynamic profiles, while also offering captivating negative spaces created by close groupings.

Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, August 19 from 6-10pm. The exhibit will be on display through September 10, 2005. In conjunction with the exhibit, Jennifer will be leading a two day demonstration workshop where she explains her process, inspiration, and thinking relative to the work.

"Jennifer is always storming ahead, an incredibly giving educator, and one of the hardest working and most unpretentiously thoughtful artists we have ever met," notes MudFire founder Luba Sharapan. "She is one of Atlanta's hottest new talents, and is steadily gaining broader recognition with recent and upcoming showings and residencies at some of the nation's most prestigious ceramics venues. We have been working with Jennifer for several years, and are incredibly excited to see her building such momentum around her career."

The gallery exhibit and workshop are the culmination of an intensive six month Artist In Residence program which Jen is completing in September before heading to Anderson Ranch for a six month residency there.

About Jennifer Martin

Jennifer D. Martin is a full-time educator and ceramic artist living in Atlanta, Georgia. After receiving a BFA from Georgia Southern University in 1997, her passion for clay led her to Georgia State University where she received a MFA in Ceramics in 2000. After completing her MFA program, she joined the Ceramics faculty of the School of Art and Design at Georgia State University in 2001 as Adjunct Instructor and continued through 2005 as a Visiting Instructor.

As a ceramic artist and educator, she enjoys sharing information and helping others along the journey to express artistic intention through clay. In addition to teaching, Jennifer built the soda kiln at GSU. Her work celebrates tradition while not being inhibited by its vast history. Using the potter's wheel as a tool and soda firing her work, she reveals the silky sensual nature of clay as reflected by the touch of her hand.

Jennifer's professional experience also includes a Visiting Instructor position at the State University of West Georgia in 2001. Her exhibition record includes several group and solo shows. She has been a guest lecturer, visiting artist, artist in residence and instructor at many different art centers and schools in the Atlanta area.

Artist Statement

My ceramic work celebrates tradition while not being inhibited by its vast history. I strive to reveal the sensual nature of clay as reflected by the touch of my hand. Using similar tools and processes to that of a traditional potter, I look not towards the ideal symmetrical vessel but instead towards asymmetry. My work often acts as a metaphor for the physical body, and I consider function secondary to fluidity and gesture in the form. While the marks on the surface of the pots record the history of my hand in its creation, these same marks represent an individual's experience. Like the rings seen in the cross-section of a tree, these marks provide a history of growth. In a similar manner I use the repetitive lines and patterns in my work to create a vocabulary able to describe gender, a specific situation, a human journey or simply one's personality make-up.

Both the scale of the work and the way the work is grouped is of utmost importance to me. I hope to elevate the ceramic vessel from simply a utilitarian object through creating different scenarios in which to view them. The way two forms reflect each other's profiles, a grid-work of cups both similar in form but completely unique when viewed together or large-scale forms created from actual body measurements provide a variety of experiences to explore the same body of work and find possible narratives. The use of soda firing is used to maintain a flesh-like aspect to the clay thus reminding us of our own physical selves. On one's physical body we know that scars and imperfections mark moments in our lives and can trigger memory of those moments. Whether or not these experiences are positive or negative I am interested in embracing and celebrating the marks left behind as one progresses through life

Jennifer Martin Resume

EDUCATION

1998-2000, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics

1993-1997, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2005-Present, MudFire Clayworks, Decatur, GA, Artist-In- Residence

2003-2005, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, Visiting Instructor in Ceramics

2001-2003, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, Adjunct Instructor in Ceramics

2001, State University of West Georgia, Carrolton, GA, Visiting Instructor in Ceramics

1998-2001, Pinckneyville Arts Center, Norcross, GA, Instructor/Artist in Residence

2000, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, Graduate Teaching Assistant

1999 – 2000, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, Graduate Lab Assistant

LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS

2005, MudFire Clayworks, Decatur, GA, Workshop presenter, “Loosen Up…Throwing Figurative Vessels”

2004, MudFire Pottery Center, Atlanta, GA, “In the House” throwing workshop

2003, 2004,2005, Hambidge Center/Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, Anagama Kiln Firing Workshop for GSU students

2003, Woodward Academy Atlanta, GA, Visiting Guest Lecturer

1998-2001, Pinkneyville Arts Center, Norcross, GA, Elementary School Outreach Program Presenter

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

1997 – Present, National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts, Member

1998 – Present, GSU Student League of Independent Potters, Member

1994-1997, Georgia Southern University, Club Mud, Member

EXHIBITIONS

2005, Made By Hand, Meant for Use, Juried ARC Exhibitions, Berrien Springs, MI

2005, Georgia Potters Show & Sale, Invitational, The Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap, GA

2005, Clay Cup X, Southern Illinois University Museum, Carbondale, IL

2004, Jennifer D. Martin - Atmospheric Forms, Clay West Gallery, Roswell, GA

2004, High 5, Gallery I - Georgia State University , Atlanta, GA

2004, Jennifer D. Martin - New Work, McMaster Gallery, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

2003, 8 X 10 Atlanta, MudFire Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2003, Bottles and Bowls, The Saratoga Clay Company, Wilton, NY

2003, Jennifer D. Martin – Flashing Series, MudFire Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2001, NCECA Regional Student Juried Exhibition, National Council for Ceramic Arts Conference, Charlotte, NC

2000, Jennifer D. Martin - Sum of the Parts, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Gallery I - Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

1999, Three Blind Mice, Gallery I&II - Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

1998, Georgia State University Student Juried Show, Gallery I&II - Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

1997, Jennifer D. Martin, BFA Solo Exit Show, Gallery - Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA