Humble particles

Tim Collom Gallery

Like ancient cave paintings, Craig Martinez's sculptures are gestural and simple yet sophisticated. His figures of animals, including humans, are formed with pieces of discarded wood, wire and fiber that the artist describes as “considered worthless.” So the edges may be jagged and appear rough, but like a circle that doesn't completely close, the human eye fills in the gap, and the gaps are where we see the “bones” of the figure, its vulnerabilities and strengths. Also, like the paintings preserved on the walls of caves from long ago, Martinez's color palette is earthy, and his figures—sometimes a combination of human and another animal—invoke Native American spirituality and mythology, overall, negating any worthlessness of his pieces' humble particles.