Midnight Propeller #100, 1970, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Private Collection
In 1970 Martin had the opportunity to study the Codex Borbonicus, a pre-Columbian pictorial manuscript, and was inspired to produce one of his own. He described his codex as "a coding or decoding (as the case may be) of the heart." It includes a series of over one hundred ink and wash drawings depicting a personal cosmology that, like the concurrent lacquers, are variations on the themes:
the river
the hole
the stupa
the door or archway
The river is a flow and a division of space, the hole an encircling of space or mandala, the stupa is a buddha shape or amount of space, and the door is an archway to another space. To make them, Martin brushed an ink wash image on paper, then ran it under water and drew in ink over what remained. Chance was a welcome element in the process.
"Martin's drawing brings his viewer closer to the things that attract his attention and function as sources of inspiration."
Casey FitzSimons, ArtWeek
Before the Gates #99, 1970, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
Bowl of Doesn't Matter #98, 1970, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Twenty Snake and Stone #83, 1972, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
Wash Wash, 1972, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
Twenty Snake and Stone #83, 1972, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
Wash Wash, 1972, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
Aiee! Cried First Man, 1977, ink on paper
14 x 14 inches/36 x 36 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
Working Woman, 1977, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
Aiee! Cried First Man, 1977, ink on paper
14 x 14 inches/36 x 36 cm
Estate of Don and Joan Gilbert Martin
Working Woman, 1977, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
Open Wheel #1, 1979, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
Carriage, 1979, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
Wheel Rising, 1979, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Private Collection
Her #1, 1979, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
The House of the House OF, 1987, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Private Collection
In a Row, 1989, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Private Collection
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Private Collection
Untitled (Apples), 1989, ink on paper
18 x 18 inches/46 x 46 cm
Estate of Don and Joan
Gilbert Martin
(photos of art work: Tony Grant © 2017, Rick Pharaoh © 2017, Joan Gilbert Martin)