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'Redhead Series', 2002
Fencing, cloth, synthetic hair, beeswax, pigment.
40" x 29" x 25"
'Shirt', 2006
Wire, fabric, beeswax, synthetic hair, pigment.
21" x 26" x 14"
'C's Corset', 2006
Wire, fabric, beeswax, synthetic hair, pigment.
18" x 15" x 12"
Martha Posner questions the significance of fabrics often associated with beauty and wealth by reworking worn wedding dresses, vintage waistcoats and corsets. She enhances the original intention of objects as luxurious pieces of clothing, transforming and transcending this meaning by changing the environment, colour and structure of the garments. Posner's work is created around themes of constructed beauty, decay and the temporary nature of life.
In 'C's Corset' (2006) an off white corset is situated in a harvested field of sunflowers. paint, beeswax and wire have been applied to the original material and give the object a sculptural look. The corset, once designed to accentuate feminine beauty but at the same time a slightly torturing tool used to narrow a lady's waistline, is now lying deserted on the ground. Has it become a piece of trash, ready to deteriorate and rot away or has the corset survived its owner and found a new space and purpose in the world?
Martha Posner is intrigued by fairy tales and foreign cultures and tells through her work beautiful but dark stories of lost passion and love, while making an attempt to combine beauty with decay. Most of Posner's creations are photographed in desolate, stark landscapes. The transformed, recycled fabrics are still aesthetically pleasing, although not as objects of fashion. They are robust structures and independent objects in the open space. In terms of shape and memory there are still traces of human presence, but a living human being is superfluous for these items to have a justification for existence.
Martha Posner lives and works in Pennsylvania.
To see more of her work registered on Saatchi Online click here, and visit the artist's own website, marthaposner.com.
Georgia Haagsma
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Georgia Haagsma studied at the University of Amsterdam, the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and moved to London to finish her BA in Cultural Studies at University College London, where she graduated with honours in Art, Science and Practice. She worked in the Press Department at the Saatchi Gallery from February to June 2009 and is now a Gallery Assistant at a contemporary art gallery in London as well as a freelance art critic.
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| Published on 22-06-2009 |
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Gripping, intriguing work, focused and centered in and of the earth, with a sense of the spiritual realm, and yet tied to the finite temperance of life.
Daniel P Quinn/ArtsPRunlimited | |
I wanted to thank Ms Haagsma for her comments on my work. This was a wonderful surprise to stumble upon.
Martha Posner | |
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