"Searching," Julia Martin
Julia Martin’s most recent collection of work is an exploratory practice of psychedelic healing and sensual self-expression created through femininity, nudity and bewitching portraitures.
Bring the Light includes 26 artworks: 25 paintings (22 of them solo portrait paintings and three group portrait paintings) and a single drawing. While her mediums cover a wide range — everything from oil paint and mixed media on paper to wax pastel on paper and acrylics — every portrait has a unique antique-style frame, which Martin sourced through vintage shopping. The frames add a nod to the traditional origins of painting, while the work itself presents an opportunity to transcend hetero-white-male identity. And while exhibition framing is typically black or white, Martin selected framing colors like brass, bronze and even blue. This choice adds to the effect of Victorian-style portraiture, but with a womanly, curatorial hand.
On an Instagram post in December, Martin disclosed that she’d made paintings in this show — namely “Going Up” — while on mushrooms. “I always worried that painting on psychedelics would be too overwhelming,” she wrote, “but the fear did indeed melt away.”
"McMerbot," Julia Martin
The exhibition is filled with works that seem to showcase a similar exploration. “Searching” is balanced somewhere between reality and dreams — a heterosexual couple appears to be submerged in a psychedelic realm. The refined detail of the woman’s body seems to be mirrored in the man’s face — her nipples and his eyes are among the only body parts that are clearly outlined. Martin’s use of muted washes of color adds to the ghostly, abstracted appearance of their bodies. While the male figure is undeniably present, it’s the woman’s shadowed facial expression that draws you into “Searching.” She is the painting's focal point — not just her body, but her presence. Her resin-tinted physical dimensions seem almost tangible, while his multicolor physical attributes are more like a mirage or a memory.
The painting’s title, “Searching,” seems to echo that sentiment. After all, what is it that women search for? To be truly seen and understood? To demand opportunities for equality within systems of inequality? “Searching” is there with us, asking that a woman’s existence be seen, appreciated and understood — in both real and fantastical contexts — against the presence of a man.
At a staggering 43 by 61.5 inches, “Five Points” is a drawing that explores the reflective femininity found within five of the seven chakra points: root, sacral, solar plexus, throat and third eye. The fascinating detail of this piece lies within the woman’s pose and the colors adorning her body. The woman, seen in profile, is doubled, as if her body is pressed against a mirror.
"The Wish," Julia Martin
Within each piece, Martin leads the viewer further into a fever dream of matriarchal power. Can we choose to listen to our base feminine desires and instincts without societal pressures?
Martin explores hidden dimensions and fractured memories with female portraiture in the oil-and-mixed-media painting “Littlewing.” In it, Martin seems to have reused her own painting — the woman’s face is revealed through a portal rip, sort of like what you might see after swiftly ripping paper diagonally off a wall. The piece’s title brings Jimi Hendrix’s song “Little Wing” immediately to mind.
While most of Martin’s paintings feel purposely obscure, “Knee Socks” is simple. The oil-on-canvas painting depicts a woman sprawled out on a bed framed with shadows and colorful lights, her body casually positioned in something reminiscent of post- or pre-coital bliss.
“Clam Bake” evokes the stylings of Renaissance paintings with a 1960s aura. The environment is ambiguous, but the intent is clear — female nudity is power. This interpretation of clam-bake gatherings showcases the liberation of a nude summer. The women depicted in this piece are painted with a bold, playful color palette, while the men are depicted in enigmatic shades of gray. The dark-toned arches above each head mimic angelic halos.
This exhibition shows Martin at her most introspective. She’s exploring ideas about women as truth seekers, light bringers and life bearers. And we — as a species, as a gender — all thrive from the accurate portrayal of artistic, sexual women.
