Meet Martin Terry
I was born overlooking the mighty, historic, life-giving Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. Poughkeepsie lies halfway between Albany and New York City on the Hudson River and was once the capitol of the state, a whaling center, a neighbor to the Roosevelt and the Vanderbilt families, and home to Samuel F.B. Morse, the inventor of the Morse code and a celebrated painter.
I started painting when I was 10 years old and decided at that time to devote my life to the exploration of forms of personal expression. Largely self-taught, I studied commercial art at the local Community College and fine art at the local State University. I continue to supplement my education to this day.
I have worked as a commercial artist in the publishing field, had my own business creating signs and logos, but a large part of my professional work experience has been in therapeutic art and rehabilitation. Although not financially rewarding, the ability to use my art to heal has deeply affected my work: Twenty years of experience culminated in the position of Program Coordinator of the psycho-social rehabilitation program for the Mental Health Association of Dutchess County. During this time I exhibited my art in many group and solo exhibits.
In 1991, I moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico with my family to pursue a full-time career in the fine arts. Then, as a trailing spouse, I moved to Dallas, Texas and then to Europe. I lived in Rome, Italy where I maintained a studio and taught art classes. I coordinated exhibitions for the Sembler Gallery of the US Embassy.
My concern is with ideas. I want the viewers to bring their life experiences and intellects to my work in order to complete it and share in the excitement of creativity. My images, both figurative and non-representational, explore the range from perceptual phenomena to the extremes of pure thought through to the material world.
My recent works investigate memory, attraction of opposites, transparent and translucent light and the mapping of the “collective unconscious.” Using color and shape in a mixed media technique, the work often combines “found” objects in a painterly fashion with mixed media, resulting in a low relief. My work also explores the space between the second and third dimensions, combining sculpture and painting. My work has a fragile connecting thread that ties it all together, traveling through the organic, inorganic, and spiritual worlds.