Leigh Martin

Leigh Martin (Te Ati Haunui a Paparangi, Uenuku) lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau, New Zealand. As an artist who works with self prescribed rhythmic frameworks to draw out the minutiae of painterly effects, Martin overlays his practice with research in the mechanics of sound. Using controlled, repetitive motions to pull paint across the paintings’ surfaces, Martin works to catch the impression of silken weaving that emerges through the relationship between the two mediums. Levelling the artist’s intervention to an even partnership between human actor and material elements, the residual sense of motion implied by Martin’s deep gestural palette rests in the surface of each work with a subtle vibrancy. 

Martin studied for his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Glasgow School of Fine Art, Scotland from1991 until 1993 where he received the Christies Prize, the Armour Prize and the Cargill Scholarship before returning to complete a Master of Fine Arts (first class honours) at Auckland University of Technology in 2013. Martin has lectured in painting at Elam, School of Fine Arts  University of Auckland, AUT and Unitec. He exhibits throughout New Zealand and internationally and his work is held in significant public and private collections including Christchurch Art Gallery, Auckland Art Gallery and the Wallace Arts Trust Collection.