Martha Walker in the Media
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Sculptures on the set of Shonda Rhimes' thrilling limited series on Netflix, "Inventing Anna"
Several of Martha Walker's sculptures appeared in episode 4 of the nine-episode limited series.
Image 1: "Separation Anxiety" View>>
"Up in Smoke" View>>
Image 2: "Pearl" View>>
Martha Walker's sculptures on the set of the upcoming Netflix Series "Inventing Anna," written by Shonda Rhimes, set to premiere in 2020
Image 1:"Separation Anxiety" and "Heart of the Matter"
Image 2: "Up in Smoke"
Image 3: "Pearl"
Martha Walker's sculpture on the popular Netflix show, 'Orange is the New Black'
“Separation Anxiety” selected for the series finale, episode 13 of season 7 of 'Orange is the New Black', released July 26, 2019.
Owlet Pen and Ink Drawing published in “Brooklyn Bird’s Clapper Rail” Spring 2019 issue
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Gowanus Open Studios 2016
wows art lovers
Brooklyn Daily Eagle: October 19, 2016
Review Excerpt
Martha Walker wields an oxy-acetylene torch with a flame so hot that it makes steel drip like wax. "It's like molten lava," she said. Martha Walker makes welded steel sculptures. This is a dramatic method for making sculptures, and her finished works are dramatic as well. During the Gowanus art lovers' weekend, Walker displayed several of the pieces at her studio at 168 7th St., which has been her workplace for the past decade.
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Review in Sculpture Magazine
November, 2015
Review Excerpt
Martha Walker is a micro biology-minded Surrealist whose recent show, "Broken World, Anxious Hea rt,” imagined a toxic garden. Long ago, its seems, life rose from luxuriant waters, briefly inhaled the air's sweetness, then froze. Denizens of this now-petrified forest of twisted steel skeletons include femi ni ne breeds undulati ng thei r potent animas and biomorphic forms caught between joie de vivre and a danse macabre. Formally elegant species defy weighty steel, and negative arabesques assert themselves within masses of dense metal. It's all best described as lyrical gravitas.
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Slope artist explores her demons — by sculpting demons
January, 2012
Excerpt:
Martha Walker — whose morbid Tim Burton-esque sculptures have appeared in episodes of “Gossip Girl” — will “explore personal demons” through her molten steel and copper statues at 111 Front Street Galleries.
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Photo by Stefano Giovannini
Park Slope artist Martha Walker's steel sculptor pieces in upcoming film 'The Art of Love'
December, 2010
Excerpt:
Park Slope artist Martha Walker's work is poised to get its very own 15 minutes of fame. Her metal sculptures, made out of meticulously dripped molten steel, are starring in an upcoming movie as the work of an artist played by Olympia Dukakis.
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Review: Woodstock Times - Strange bedfellows Works by Richard Segalman Robert Ohnigian Martha Walker now on view at Woodstock Framing Gallery
December, 2010
Excerpt:
Her pieces feel amorphous, like living creatures dragged up from the bottom of the ocean or landed from earlier eons on earth. They start out looking heavy (which they are), but become lighter the longer that one ponders them. And from the strength of Walker’s originality and execution through to her adamant way with promotion, it seems that she’s now having her own moment of fame, with a growing number of gallery shows up and down the East Coast drawing her attention.
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Review: NY Daily News
December, 2010
Excerpt:
Park Slope artist Martha Walker's work is poised to get its very own 15 minutes of fame.
Her metal sculptures, made out of meticulously dripped molten steel, are starring in an upcoming movie as the work of an artist played by Olympia Dukakis.
About seven of her pieces will dress up the set of "The Art of Love," a teen fantasy romance about three generations of women artists with secret magical powers, expected to hit theaters next fall.
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Martha Walker featured on Gossip Girl
Review: Sculpture Magazine
November, 2010
Excerpt:
Martha Walker's sculpture poses apparent contradictions…subconscious, political, and microbiological themes in puddled steel…
Read More: Original Article (Navigate to Page 72) | PDF
Review: 14th Annual Gowanus Art Studios Tour
Yeah New York: October 17, 2010
Excerpt:
Art can be anything. Proven, case-in-point, at the 14th Annual Gowanus Artists Studio Tour that took place October 2nd. The event lasted from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., showcasing various kinds of art from all different kinds of artists in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, NY.
Twenty-eight studios spread across 19 blocks housing artists and art aficionados; along with the smell of red and white wine, cheese and chocolate loading the hallways.
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Ad Hoc Artists Residency
Woodstock Times: July 22, 2010
Excerpt:
Martha Walker’s home on Millstream Road is classic Woodstock, of both the modern and historic types. It’s a rambling mixture of wings and rustic woodwork and enough windows to bring the outdoors in. Plus a pool and a good-sized unattached garage. She and her family have been using it as a getaway from their Brooklyn lives for the past 11 years. She explains how they’d rented in town, thinking the town would be a good base for wider house-hunting…and then decided to stay.
All quite contemporary, that side of her story...
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Martha Walker: Drawing with Metal
South Florida Gay News: May 30, 2010
Excerpt:
Martha Walker is a sculptor based in Brooklyn, NY, but like many residents of Gotham she has a connection to South Florida. The artist went to Miami Beach High School, and graduated from there in 1971.
“In those days,” said Walker from her home in Park Slope, Brooklyn, “Miami was a decrepit old folks home. In those days, we couldn’t wait to get out. It’s amazing that is has become such a hot spot in the past 20 years.”
When asked if she took art classes in high school, Walker surprisingly responded no. While interested in art she did not take any classes in the field until her senior year. Her art teacher was immediately impressed with her work...
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Sirius DJ Lisa G: Gay sculptor Martha Walker never saw a hot blow torch she didn't like
Miami Herald: Steve Rothaus' Gay South Florida, May 26, 2010
Excerpt:
What do you get when you cross a gay woman and a hot blow torch? New York sculptor Martha Walker!
It took Walker years to finally complete her calling (and take on sculpting full-time), but now that she's done so, she's never looking back. And it's been full-speed ahead ever since. Her pieces have been featured on TV's 'Gossip Girl' and are permanently displayed inside one of America's premiere hotels, The Boca Beach Resort in Boca Raton, Florida...
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Martha's group show
"A Parallel Presence: National Association of Women Artists, 1889-2009,"
is featured in the NY Times
Click HERE to read the article
Photos from Martha's Solo Show
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Martha Walker is Featured in Sculpture Magazine
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Martha Walker's Meditative Process
Celebrate the Healing Power of Art, March 24, 2010
Excerpt:
Martha Walker is a Brooklyn, New York sculptor who uses molten metal to create forms that seem to float through space. These pieces range in scale from 12 inches across to 10 feet high. Due to their fluid nature, the inorganic origins of Walker's pieces are unrecognizable, and often, they are likened to aquatic or microbiological organisms.
Walker believes that her painstaking, meditative process reveals subconscious imagery and gives her art a feeling of timelessness.
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ART: Frozen in space
Lancaster Online, January 26, 2009
Excerpt:
As clouds gathered and rain scattered and pelted the ocean, Martha Walker was stirred by the moment.
The 55-year-old New York City sculptor thought she might be able to conceptualize the images in steel.
But what started as a rain-induced inspiration quickly turned more somber.
As she welded and shaped molten metal, she embraced a more political view, and an atomic mushroom cloud rose, volcano-like from the center of her piece.
"The End Justifies The Means, Justifies The End," standing almost 10-feet high, is the centerpiece of "Expanding Universe," an 11-sculpture exhibit by Walker which opened this week in the Dana Gallery of The Phillips Museum of Art located in the Steinman College Center at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.
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Expanding Universe
The Diplomat, January 15, 2009
Excerpt:
Sculptor Martha Walker looks for the beauty of nature, sees allusions of anguish and disaster and molds them into steel.
An exhibit of the sculptors welded-steel structures, Expanding Universe, opens Jan. 20 at the Dana Gallery in The Phillips Museum of Art. It runs through March 29.
There will be a gallery talk and artist's reception on March 6, at 4:30 p.m. in the Dana Gallery.
Walker's sculptures have been shown in numerous exhibitions and featured in the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.
"I can't say what triggers the images completely," Walker recently told Manhattan Arts International. "They seem to come from a dream consciousness. They are often in muted colors, or grays and muted blues, which is how I dream. I also think there is a subconscious psycho-sexual connotation to a lot of my images."
Her work is in many collections, including the Jane Vorhees Zimmerli Art Museum and the Ann Frank Center in New York.
The exhibition and gallery events are free and open to the public.
Crisis or Transformation
Art and the Economy, January, 2009
Excerpt:
In agreement is Martha Walker (www.marthawalker.net) a
sculptor from Brooklyn, New York, whose work is in many collections,
including the Zimmerli Art Museum. Two of her sculptures
were recently installed at the Kouros Sculpture Center, and
her sculpture, Hope, was purchased and donated to the Anne
Frank Center. She will have a solo exhibition at the Phillips
Museum of Art, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, January 20 through
March 29, 2009.
She says, "In uncertain times, it makes sense to diversify
assets away from paper investments, like stocks and derivatives,
putting a larger portion into physical investments like metals
and collectibles (artwork). These assets tend to increase in value
in both good and bad economic times, and more so should we
experience inflationary trends. Certainly, purchasing the work of
emerging artists offers the greatest potential for reward, although
ultimately the fundamental reason for buying art should be
because it is something that the buyer truly enjoys owning.
There is nothing wrong with reminding buyers of this when discussing
one's artwork, because all of the others selling their products
are using similar strategies."
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Martha Walker is Making Waves at Gossip Girl
GossipGirlReport.com features Martha Walker after her sculptures, Hope and T'Kiyyah, Sound of the Shofar, appear on the show.
Martha Walker's sculpture on
the popular T.V. show, Gossip Girl
Here is a clip of Martha Walker's sculpture on the popular T.V. show, Gossip Girl, that airs on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 9:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. central time. Two of her sculptures, Hope and T'Kiyyah, Sound of the Shofar were chosen by the art director as props for a scene in a trendy New York City art gallery.
Martha Walker's sculpture on
the popular T.V. show, Gossip Girl
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
at 9:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. central time, on the CW
Don't miss Martha Walker's sculpture on the popular T.V. show, Gossip Girl in this upcoming episode airing on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 9:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. central time. Two of her sculptures, Hope and T'Kiyyah, Sound of the Shofar were chosen by the art director as props for a scene in a trendy New York City art gallery.
Martha Walker is Manhattan Arts Featured Artist
Manhattan Arts International, October 16, 2008
We are proud to present two outstanding artists, Bonnie Leibowitz and Martha Walker, as the Manhattan Arts International Featured Artists of the Week, from October 16-22.
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-Renee Phillips, Director
Manhattan Arts International
Manhattan Arts International Weekly Newsletter, 08/27/2008
Martha Walker is achieving the recognition she deserves.
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Something sublime for a blow torch
Courier Life Publication, 08/30/2007
After two years spent toiling with a welder’s torch, Martha Walker exhibits her latest steel sculpture, “Undercurrents,” on display at the 440 Gallery in Brooklyn, September 6-October 14 with an opening reception September 7 from 6-9 p.m.
Art Space Talk: Martha Walker
From the MyArtSpace.com Blog 11/21/06
Watch this clip here.
Through her work she reflects her love for science and her goal to convey a message that is personal.
Each piece is a statement about life. Thus, each piece is a personal reflection that is constructed through her mastery of skills and her quest to know the heart of purity and truth. Her work is a celebration of life, the beyond, and female sexuality. The female identity is boldly captured in her use of curvilinear forms.
Her sculptures take on many forms. At first glance one is reminded of the smallest organisms on our planet. Further observation reveals insight into the cosmos... the basic theories of how humankind came to be. Closer examination reveals shapes that are the essence of the female form... rugged and pure... a trinity of life.
-Brian Sherwin 11/21/06
Martha Walker at 440 Gallery
From Oly's Musings Blog 10/07/06
Excerpt:
"Recently I found a heretofore undiscovered gem located on a quiet block of Sixth Avenue, the artist-run collective 440 Gallery.
In its current show, "Undercurrents," sculptor Martha Walker takes leaps and bounds over the "sculpture community," creating amorphous formations that seem to take on a new life of their own.
There is a power to Walker's work that is immediate."
Manhattan Arts International
An Interview by Martha Walker, Sculptor
By Melissa Goldberg 12/06
There is no doubt that Martha Walker's childhood was anything short of incredible. Her parent's love to travel lead to Martha living all over America, from Miami Beach, FL to Kansas City, MO to the west coast, and she even spent three years living in a remote forest in Sweden. If this wasn't an exotic-enough upbringing, the artists' father worked as a nuclear physicist through the height of the arms race (to which he was opposed). Martha Walker often visited her father's laboratory and was exposed to microscopic images, which have reverberated in her art.
Walker is a sculptor, with some of her works reaching up to seven feet tall. With her background, it's no wonder Martha Walker's work takes on such unique, organic forms.
MG: What attracted you to sculpture as a medium?
MW: I have always had an affinity for 3-D, ever since I was a child. I used to make cartoon figures out of clay and display them on my desk: Pirates fighting with swords made of sewing needles. When I went to college (at Pratt Institute), my primary focus was drawing. As a freshman, I took an Introduction to Welding class, and I was immediately struck by the way metal could bend to form a 3-dimensional line in space. For me, it was 3-D drawing. I also saw exhibits of sculpture at that time that totally inspired me, including Degas sculpture, Matisse, and Rodin.
MG: Do you have an image of what you are going to sculpt before you begin welding?
MW: I have a vague idea in mind before I start, but it often changes dramatically as I proceed. Sometimes it changes less dramatically, but it always takes on a life of its own, and evolves.
MG: How do you decide what your next project will be?
MW: At this point, I have about three sculptures in my head that I keep imagining. My process is slow, so it allows me to work on one, while developing at least one more while I'm working. I have no shortage of ideas at this point.
MG: How long does it take you to finish a sculpture? What is the longest one has ever taken you?
MW: The longest that a sculpture took to complete was Pacific Crater, which took over 2 years. But, that was because I was at an early stage in my artistic development, and I really didn't know where the piece was going. I made major changes along the way. The time to complete a piece is often influenced by the size of the work. T'Kiyyah, Sound of the Shofar only took a few months. Birth and Hope each took about six months to finish.
MG: How many hours do you spend in the studio weekly?
MW: 20 to 30 hours. I wish I could spend even more time, but I have familial and business obligations.
MG: In your mind how does an image from every day life transform into one of the more abstract images we see in your sculpture?
MW: I don't think about images from everyday life. The viewer often comments that my work reminds them of something from life, but my images come from a subconscious, dream level. They just pop out at me.
MG: What do you do when ideas pop into your head? What do you think triggers these images?
MW: Sometimes I sketch out what comes into my head, but more often, I work over the image in my mind for a long time, sometimes making changes, and sometimes just sort of savoring it. I can't say what triggers the images completely. They seem to come from a dream consciousness. They are often in muted colors, or greys and muted blues, which is how I dream. I also think there is a subconscious psycho-sexual connotation to a lot of my images.
MG: I see listed on the website that you list the puddling process as part of your work. I was hoping you could explain more about what that is: is it a process you do yourself or is it a way of treating steel before you sculpt it? How does it affect your art?
MW: "Puddling" means to build up form by dripping the steel as if it were wax. I use rods to create lines and guide my dripping process, but all of the masses that you see are built up through dripping the steel. This slow process allows for greater reflection, instead of "rushing to judgment", and the method causes the steel to appear much softer and organic. The metal flows like lava. I believe that all art should integrate process into the result, and that this method epitomizes this idea.
MG: How do you manage larger works such as "Birth" – A 7 foot tall piece? Do you make it in multiple pieces?
MW: Yes. "Birth" was the result of making the top form, then the large bottom form. I suspended the upper form, and placed it at the desired angle, and then connected the two.
MG: Of the many places you lived growing up, which was your favorite? Why? Which has impacted you most?
MW: I would have to say that Sweden was my favorite, and impacted most on me as an artist, because for a period of time, we lived in a very remote forest area, and I connected with nature in a big way. Natural forms, both microscopic and aquatic play a big part in my images it seems.
MG: How has living in New York City influenced your artwork?
MW: New York City is my favorite place in the world. The city is teeming with art and artists, and that has been the greatest influence. It raises the bar when so many people are so serious about their work, and so talented.
MG: Do you visit galleries or museums in New York? Is there any art you've seen recently that you've particularly enjoyed?
MW: I try to allocate a day every month to visiting galleries or museums. I've just returned from Europe, and the Rodin Museum was the highlight. I find that classic work is something I feel very comfortable with. Even though my work is abstract, I feel like I operate with classical composition as a basis for what I make.
MG: In your bio you talk about your father's work in the laboratory and your exposure to the world of science. Where can we see this reflected in your work?
MW: The microscopic connection. I used to spend a lot of time viewing microorganisms under the microscope. I loved their bizarre forms.
MG: Could you give an example of a piece of your work that was strongly influenced by the time you spent in the laboratory with your father?
MW: Birth is an example of something that may have been influenced by observations of microorganisms. The piece actually started with the idea of cell division. Another is Aphrodite. It seems to me to have a head, a thorax and an abdomen, and it also has a weightless quality, as if it may be floating in plasma.
MG: When I saw "Pacific Crater" I was instantly reminded of a trip I took to a beach in California - it is a large steel sculpture remnant of a cove that might sit off the coast of a Pacific beach. What inspired this piece?
MW: A trip to Hawaii in 2001. I actually took the basic form from watching the Hawaiians weave shallow baskets from palm fronds, and then there was the lava from the volcanoes that I am so fascinated by.
MG: Is there anything you're working on now that you are particularly excited about?
MW: I'm working on another large piece; I think it will be around the same size as "Birth", which is seven feet. It's very different. Sort of wild, and it is very challenging to make, because I'm working from the top down. That means that this huge, heavy mass is suspended in space until I reach the bottom.
MG: Was there a time in your life when you considered pursing a different profession than art? If so, what was the other profession? What made you decide to pursue art instead?
MW: I did pursue another profession until 2001 when I went back for my graduate degree at Pratt. Most of my life, I was in various sales positions. I owned my own marketing company for 15 years. I was also a commodities broker and a stockbroker. My attitude was that I would rather follow a commercial business career to make a living than to compromise my artistic values. I waited until I was financially comfortable so that I could make art without worrying about "the sale".