Happiness… October 2024

*'Hard and Soft' exhibit at Oigall Projects. September 26th-October 16th.*

My exhibit ’Hard and Soft’ is underway at Oigall Projects in Melbourne. My plundering of the Pompeii in my imagination.

One thing that strikes me is how totally happy I am with the outcome. I’m not thinking” ‘what if’ or ‘that’s not quite right’ or ‘if only'. I am thinking ‘This is great’. ‘How fortunate I am to be able to do this.’

For this, I credit to some degree age and experience but I must also shout out to my embrace of the practice of the “Artists Way”… Julia Cameron's guide to creative self-compassion. It works.

Here is a visual record of the exhibit. Photographs by Eryca Green, Annika Kafcaloudis and myself. .

'HAPPINESS
COTTON JACQUARD, FRAMED AUSTRALIAN HARDWOOD
Photograph by Annika Kafcaloudis.

CUPID LRG #2 WHITE RAKU & STONEWARE GLAZE
Photograph by Eryca Green

'*Eros' and 'Cupid' vessels sitting atop 'Circus' plinths that I've painted and repainted sanding and rubbing back the layers to produce an aged effect.*

Andy Kelly holding
CUPID SML #2 WHITE RAKU & STONEWARE GLAZE
Photograph by Annika Kafcaloudis.

Looking in.
Photograph by Annika Kafcaloudis.

*CUPID LRG #1 WHITE RAKU & STONEWARE GLAZE.*

CUPID SML #3 WHITE RAKU & STONEWARE GLAZE
Photograph by Annika Kafcaloudis.

*'Twin Lines' cotton jacquard tapestry ,'Cupid Sml#3' ceramic and 'Glass #4'.*

GLASS VESSEL #1
Photograph by Annika Kafcaloudis.

*Glass vessels #1 #2 #3 and a 'Spot Brown' cotton jacquard tapestry.*

SPOT (GREEN)
COTTON JACQUARD, FRAMED AUSTRALIAN HARDWOOD
Photograph by Annika Kafcaloudis.

I’ve spent the last year working on various aspects of this show which is a combination of ceramic, glass, and textile work.

I’ve worked with a lot of talented makers to create these pieces. I’d like to thank them.

RL Foote Design Studio for persevering with the ceramics, Tom Rowney and Aimee Frodsam at Canberra Glassworks for making my ideas a reality.

Brent Hall and Leon Curtwood for their work on the plinths and Ryan Ward at Untitled Measures for the textile framing.

My sister Rachel for her patience, advice and crucial critical eye.

And Andy Kelly at Oigall Projects for his encouragement, enthusiasm, and ability to turn a problem into a solution.

Little green Cupid and chair.
Photograph by Annika Kafcaloudis.

Oigall Projects press release for 'Hard and Soft'

Like the distinctive jacquard textiles and painted glazed ceramics they produce, Martyn Thompson’s body of work is a richly layered tapestry of influences, threads and patterns that reflects a creative life spanning multiple mediums and habitats. Now based in Sydney after a number of years living abroad, Thompson continues to develop their voracious creative appetite, producing pieces which speak to their affinity for interior life and which satisfy his hunger for ultimate expression. For their new show SOFT and HARD, launching at Oigåll Projects in late September, the artist explores the sinuous layers between fabrication and the creative impulse, which Thompson aligns with a fluid, sexual energy that fuses and gels together various forms and concepts.

This impulse is seen as a driving force, intrinsic to the process of production and reproduction, and is made tangible in the resulting materials and forms which these forces consume and regenerate. Comprising a series of new ceramic and glass works and jacquard wall textiles, as well as a series of plinths comprised of found objects and newly made objects, Thompson embraces this concept of reproduction and production throughout the entire show. Holding on tenderly to the familiar, while embracing new forms with curiosity and hedonistic delight, Thompson continues to build upon his aesthetic vision, immersing himself in a world of his own creation and inviting others to explore it.
Hard and Soft is at Oigall Projects from September 26 to October 16th.
Tuesday to Saturday from 11.30 am to 5 pm.
122 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, VIC, AU 3065
https://www.instagram.com/oigall_projects/

Happiness… October 2024

Hard and Soft… September 2024