Martin and Dowling
Malcolm Martin was born in 1959. He studied at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham (1978-81) and the Royal College of Art, London (1982-84). Gaynor Dowling was born in 1965 and studied at Nene College of Art and Design, Northampton (1983-84) and Cumbria College of Art and Design (1985-87). They have worked collaboratively since 1997 and are included in the Crafts Council Index of Makers, receiving a setting-up grant from the Council to establish their studio in 1996. They are also members of Contemporary Applied Arts.
Solo exhibitions include 'Showcase' in the Crafts Council Shop at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (1998), the Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh (1999) and 'New Objects' at Sarah Meyerscough Fine Art, London (2001). They have featured in group shows in County Durham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Oxford, Paris, Chicago and San Francisco, and their work has been acquired by the Contemporary Art Society; Crafts Council; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery; Cleveland Crafts Centre; Prior's Court School; Ruskin Gallery, Sheffield; and Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead.
Martin and Dowling received a major craft award from South West Arts and the Gane Trust Award for Wood in 1997, and a gold medal in the Bavarian State Awards in 2000.
Their sculptural and vessel forms in wood demonstrate their interest in the boundary between two and three dimensions. They are strongly frontal and allude to containers while remaining abstract, and range from small, hand-held items to sculpture in the landscape. Martin and Dowling work in series, each theme being explored in a range of variations and on differing scales. New ideas grow and evolve from current works, which are sometimes grouped in specific compositions or relationships. The forms of their sculptures are as minimal as the surfaces are complex. Carved with great care, the surface echoes folds and undulations in the landscape or the movement of wind-blown ripples over a lake. The carvings are left either as natural wood, which is then waxed, or are lightly scorched before being waxed to a fine finish. The contrast between the black and blond pieces within a group gives great vitality within their compositions.
