Hull-based artist Linda Martin has launched her first solo exhibition of paintings in the city, Ghost Windows, which has been extended to Sunday 2 July.
The exhibition showcases a body of work created as a Feral Art School student since just before lockdown in 2020 to recent days.
Some 19 works are on view to the public in the Fruit Market pop-up gallery space at 25 Humber Street. The abstract pieces include oil and acrylic paintings, ink drawings and prints.
Linda describes her body of work: “The work originates from my responses to the studio space. I am interested in the deconstructing and reconstructing of architectural spaces. Each work ‘eats itself’ and the next is spawned, whilst misty veils and rainy daubs make the invisible, visible. The works belie a longstanding fascination with the presence of absence; generating self-reflection and interrogation of space and memory, through photography, printmaking, drawing and dreaming, all of which seep into these new paintings.”
Linda’s work was created in a window of time, spanning a period marked by isolation and loss. Linda says that painting has become a necessity in her life and is a great way to channel emotions. The results have a mysterious quality to them, appearing as ghostly vignette views, hence the title of the body of work, Ghost Windows.
“I find I can see all kinds of forms in the work and people tell me they see different ones again, so I decided not to include what I see in descriptions, allowing the audience to make their own discoveries and connections.”
Feral Art School Director, Jackie Goodman, said: “It’s really exciting to see this body of work brought together in the Ghost Windows exhibition. Linda Martin has been associated with The Feral Art School as a student and studio holder and is currently a Feral Fellow. This is her first solo show and demonstrates her progress as an artist who is now curating and organising her own exhibitions, enriching the cultural life in the city.”
Linda added: “I am very grateful thankful to Feral Art School and Wykeland, who generously provided the pop-up gallery space enabling to stage my first solo show.”
Wykeland Group’s Culture and Events Manager, Natalia Cleary, said: “We are delighted that Linda approached us to exhibit her Ghost Windows exhibition here in the Fruit Market. Linda is exhibiting her work in our pop-up space where we welcome local artists, creatives and start-up businesses. We’re thrilled that Linda’s exhibition explores architectural spaces, something that Wykeland is very passionate about. We are sure that visitors to Linda’s exhibition will be enriched by her creativity, and by everything the Fruit Market has to offer.”
You can view Ghost Windows at 25 Humber Street until Sunday 2 July.