T I M   M A R T I N

Stemming from an architectural background and a love for minimalist graphics and art, Tim Martin’s ceramic sculptures distill landscapes, figures and natural objects down to their simplest forms. His love of 20th Century modernist artists - for example, Arp, Miró, Brâncusi and Ellsworth Kelly -  inspire this reductive approach to making. His pieces are 3D sculptures, but suggest a flat, layered, graphic aesthetic. They’re generally initiated from everyday objects, yet aim to keep an ambiguity about them, keeping them essentially abstract. 

Tim’s fascination for different clay types inspire keeping many pieces unglazed, and working their surfaces with extreme textures and earth tones. He often roughs up clay surfaces to bring the most out of the fired clay. When using glaze, the type and colour are often in stark contrast to the simple forms and the rustic clay, and many with unpredictable results. Glaze choices are wildly varied: runny and shiny; bright reds and oranges; deep, mottled greens; speckled, pearly whites.

Tim’s main desire is to push an emotional response of some sort - a memory, a suggestion of something familiar, a figure, an exotic plant, gardens bursting with upcoming blooms. Sculpture you want to touch, something that calms, that creates a positive moment, perhaps a private response. Ultimately, it is an emotional connection to the work that is the key to enjoying Tim’s body of work.

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Tim has a Degree in Architecture from Sydney University, Australia, and a Bachelor of Arts in Design Studies from the University of New South Wales, Australia. He is now based in London and completed the Diploma of Ceramics at City Lit in 2019. He now works from his studio at Cockpit Arts, Holborn.

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