Emily Martin
The New York-by-way-of-Georgia artist chats with Venus Zine about her D.I.Y. aesthetic and hedgehogs
By Marilyn Perez
Published: August 9th, 2006 | 12:39pm
"Hedgehogs have preoccupied my brain for the last few months. They're just so damn cute." That's artist Emily Martin talking about her current animal crush, which is featured in some of her most recent work. Martin has been drawing for about as long as she can remember, "Other children in my 2nd grade class would beg me draw something, anything...my sister and I had many drawing contests which we forced my poor brother to 'judge.'" She grew up and graduated with a BFA from the University of Georgia, where she majored in Photography and Painting. The Athens, Georgia to Brooklyn, New York transplant lives and thrives through her creativity and is holding her own in the art community; that's "Art" with a capital "A".
Martin finds inspiration in movies, music, and literature with an endless list of names of those who use imagery and visuals to tell a story; David Lynch, Jean Jeunet, Henry Darger, Yoshitomo Nara, and the like, "That is why I'm very attracted to comics... obviously the Alice stories of Lewis Carroll and other Hans Christian Anderson and Grimm Brother's fairy tales have been very formative in my work and the formulation of my personality really."
Who is the girl in Martin’s paintings? The doll-faced girl with a look of innocence, curiosity, and serenity? Why, it's Martin, of course! "Aesthetically, most of them look kind of like me, truthfully, because I was and still am most comfortable with my features...heart-shaped roundy face, roundish almondy eyes, TINY nose, heart shaped lips." It is refreshing to meet a young female talent who is not afraid to portray herself in an embracing, accepting demeanor that is not self-deprecating.
Martin's work has had some criticism for her subject matter. She was once told by someone that the reason they happened to like her work was because it wasn't "deep" enough like other kinds of art. This was suppose to be a compliment, "The most common thing is that some people think my art is conceptually too simple, or that it's not Art with a capital "A", and that's fine with me. I've certainly got more in common with Edward Gorey than with Damien Hirst."
Martin has promoted herself mostly by word of mouth and all of her hard work and efforts have paid off. She is currently one of Etsy's top sellers and was the site's feature artist in December 2005. "I work very, very hard for my cottage industry which I think shows. I think if someone dedicates themselves to creating an entire world, and they push themselves to make better work, it won't go unnoticed." When she's not painting, she's sewing, taking pictures, updating her blog, and shops for quirky shoes, dresses, and stockings. She is always thinking about what to do next and reading craft websites and publications. She is also working on becoming better at making dolls and cites Hillary of weewonderfuls.com as a doll-genius.
Martin is all over the craft spectrum and loves to see the D.I.Y. culture take off the way it has in the last couple of years, but gets discouraged when big businesses try to capitalize on the trend. Martin has experienced this first hand, "About a year ago, I was making a line of black apple embellished clothing and selling my tops and shirts at my friend's boutique in downtown Athens. Soon I began to see items that were eerily similar to my own in places like Old Navy and Target "Faux-handmade." She will continue to keep busy and is planning future projects, gallery shows, and toying with the idea of publishing children's books.
The craft community continues to grow stronger and more supportive each day and continues to gain press and draw people to handmade goods. Martin leaves encouraging words for the young up-start artist or craftster looking for a break, "If you admire someone's impeccable craftsmanship, hold yourself to those same standards. It is very comforting to think about the fact that everyone has to start somewhere, and more often than not, they started small. Be supportive of other people's work that you genuinely admire, join in on the community that is available to you. Be proud of what you make, and believe that it is wonderful and that you are creating a world not only for yourself, and for others that is wonderful!"
Issue #34
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