KELDA MARTENSEN
GROUNDWORK
J. Rinehart Gallery announces our second solo exhibition by collage artist, printmaker and educator, Kelda Martensen. Martensen’s exhibition, Groundwork, showcases a series of innovations in printmaking while calling attention to the foundational techniques themselves – a move to place craft, process, and the artist’s hand in plain sight.
Martensen’s printed works on paper incorporate her background and interest in book art, as she lifts and folds the paper away from the flattened surface, recalling an artist’s book, and the intimate act of close reading.
Focusing on the riverbeds, rock formations, plant life, and the high desert climates in which much of this work was made, Martensen draws inspiration from the life and optimism that continue to thrive in arid conditions. The ghost of water can be felt in the resistant and resourceful leaves of desert plants, the malleable clay, and the shape of rocks. Martensen uses collage to create a physical, playful, and generative space for the viewer – a push/pull in and out of shapes with a heightened focus on edges and texture.
Groundwork calls attention to the beginning and often hidden stages in printmaking: brayer marks, ink drawdowns, rough and unfinished edges of each expressive mark.
Kelda Martensen is an artist, mother, and educator. Raised in Washington State with a generations-deep devotion to craft, she approaches her printmaking, book arts, and collage practice with a soulful connection to the material. Her work is in numerous private and public collections and has been exhibited nationally and abroad.
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In Martensen’s newest exhibition, Groundwork, her pieces showcase innovations in printmaking while calling attention to the foundational techniques themselves – a move to place craft, process, and the artist’s hand in plain sight. Martensen’s works on paper incorporate her background and interest in book art, as she lifts and folds the paper away from the flattened surface, recalling an artist’s book, and the intimate act of close reading.
Focusing on the riverbeds, rock formations, plant life, and the high desert climates in which much of this work was made, Martensen draws inspiration from the life and optimism that continue to thrive in arid conditions. The ghost of water can be felt in the resistant and resourceful leaves of desert plants, the malleable clay, and the shape of rocks. Groundwork also calls attention to the beginning and often hidden stages in printmaking: brayer marks, ink drawdowns, rough and unfinished edges of each expressive mark.
Martensen uses collage to create a physical, playful, and generative space for the viewer – a push/pull in and out of shapes with a heightened focus on edges and texture. Martensen views the paper plane as dimensional – a playground for exploring – and she uses this space on the paper’s surface to create meaning. Martensen’s compositions are abstracted yet remain grounded in strong external references such as geological forms, figural gestures, climate, and plant life. Her compositions prioritize movement, tactile surfaces, and monolithic impact.
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Kelda Martensen is an artist, mother, and educator. Raised in Washington State with a generations-deep devotion to craft, she approaches her printmaking, book arts, and collage practice with a soulful connection to the material. Her work is in numerous collections and has been exhibited nationally and abroad. This is her second solo show with J. Rinehart Gallery.
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Acknowledgments:
This new work combines imagery made during the generative condensed periods of time at three residencies in Central Oregon, Northern California, and Southern Spain. Thank you to the communities and land I met there and my family for your support during these residencies. Thank you to the Seattle Colleges International Professional Development Fund, College Book Art Association, and Working Artist Org for their generous funding. Special thanks to Claire whose studio walls made this larger work possible and to friends who treated me to studio visits and generously shared their keen eyes and wisdom.