Portfolio by Stella Martin

Throughout my life, as I’ve been in different places and around different people, I’ve felt my identity shift relative to my environment. When I’m with a new group of people I’m quiet at first until I’ve learned the implicit rules of communication. My work is about this process of adaptation and how individual identity can shift and merge in relation to a group identity. In my art I work with theatrical and otherworldly imagery to create unfamiliar worlds for my audience to step into and experience a narrative of social adaptation. I’m creating a fictional community with characters that resemble humans in some ways but in other ways are unfamiliar and alien to the audience. 

I use fish and underwater life as a common motif in my work because of the interesting way it symbolizes communication or lack thereof. I’m inspired by the silence created underwater. Creatures there must have a way of communicating nonetheless, it just goes over our heads. In my thesis, I’m bringing my audience into this alien ecosystem and letting them adapt to it through experiencing the world and meeting the various creatures and characters I’ve created within it, letting them eventually merge into the system themselves. Several of my pieces seem to watch you as you move through the space. Perception is an important part of the work, specifically with focus on the suffocation of moving through a space unable to communicate, only able to watch and be watched in return. 

I work in several different mediums, with an emphasis on organic texture and form in my art. I use mixed media and different textures to create a sense of organic growth. It’s important that all of my pieces feel like they have their own life and can organically interact with one another. Interaction is another important aspect of my work. In my practice I’ve struggled with finding a balance between giving the audience too much and too little information. By letting the audience experience my work through personal interaction with the pieces, I am able to make a clearer narrative for my art, while letting other pieces stay purposefully more obscure. 

My thesis is a way to share my personal social experiences with my audience in order to inspire personal connection and growth.

Stella Martin is a second-year senior visual arts major at Interlochen Arts Academy. She is from Washington DC. Stella has received several regional Scholastic Art Awards including a Gold Key, two Silver Keys and five Honorable Mentions over the past two years. Her artwork focuses on mixed media, sculptural and fashion work with a playful tone.