Martha Walker

What is "Feminist Art"? Some would say art that makes a statement about women, whether it be political, personal, visual, or all of the above. I have issues with the idea that art needs to make a statement that is anything other than visual. I am personally more concerned with the visceral and visual reaction than the intellectual. If I don't connect on this level, I feel that I have failed as an artist. However, this doesn't mean that there is nothing more behind my work than an abstract visual image. Sometimes that which emerges spontaneously from the subconscious is sexual and erotic. This doesn't diminish or degrade the work. Rather, it liberates the artist and the viewer simultaneously. As a woman, and a lesbian, my work has an underlying feminist aesthetic. Sometimes I am uncomfortable with the idea that sexuality or gender would play a part in my art. However, whether or not it is intended in this regard, my sculpture speaks for me. The images are female in nature: curvilinear, and often relating to negative space. I also find spherical shapes intriguing because of their completeness, adding an organic perspective because they occur both microscopically and in the vast formation of the universe itself. My work has an aquatic or microbiological quality, leading to the reference of "Mother Earth", or the ocean. In several instances the titles of my sculptures are about motherhood or fertility. At the same time, what matters most is that my work appeals on a universal level regardless of sexuality or gender.

Additionally, process is of paramount importance to me. The time I spend creating a finished piece is an investment of self. Hopefully the finished sculpture serves as a record of my journey. It also reflects questions that may or may not be answered. I struggle not to plan ahead when I create art, but rather to look at each element of a sculpture as it reveals itself. I respond to what is in front of me, building each new element in relation to what came before. By working spontaneously, the journey is interesting regardless of its length. Additionally, when creating works of "puddled" steel, I am working with metal that is literally as fluid and molten as hot lava. Welding in this manner becomes a hypnotic process that mkes time stand still. The images formed in molten metal, frozen by the natural cooling process, are in part my way of giving homage to the process. The organic forms of the flowing metal are consistent with my own subliminal images. Perhaps the hardest trick of all is to remain disciplined within the work while remaining open to new possibilities. I would like to explore every aspect and possibility before moving on to something new, and yet the goal is always growth and a search for new horizons in my coninuing journey as an artist.

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