Urbanisme et nature by Raymond Martin

Raymond Martin was born in Lac-à-la-Croix (Lac-St-Jean) in Quebec in 1958 and has lived in Moncton, New Brunswick for more than thirty years. In 1981, he received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Ottawa, and in 1986 obtained a master's degree in psychology from Moncton University. Gallery 78 has represented Raymond’s work for over 20 years. He shares his time working as a child psychologist and as an artist from his studio at the Aberdeen Cultural Centre in Moncton.

Raymond Martin transposes the beauty and wonder of the world into remarkable paintings of simplified outlines and flattened views that resonate as material analogues for the unconscious, the mythical and the spiritual. Incised lines in thick impasto lead us along circuitous paths and decorative labyrinth patterns into a nonlinear, transpersonal 'Dream Time'.

Integrating a deep awareness of the psychological power and magic of children's drawings, his enchanted vision poetically melds the Cartesian split between inner human consciousness and the objective reality of the world outside.

Martin challenges the assumption that we exist as alienated, isolated individuals in a hostile, indifferent environment. His compassionate paintings celebrate our place in the cosmos, the sense of our complete interdependence in the larger scheme of things … For Martin, the way of the world is not based on Darwin’s law of ‘tooth and claw’, but on cooperation in community, on establishing relationships within the single web of life." (excerpts from the essay "The Enchanted Vision of Raymond Martin" by Terry Graff, January 1994)

Raymond's paintings are found in important public collections, including the Canada Council Art Bank, Foreign Affairs Canada, the New Brunswick Art Bank, the University of New Brunswick, l'Université de Moncton, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery collection, as well as corporate and private collections.

He has exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions from Newfoundland to British Columbia since 1985.

Artist Statement

These works evoke the different states in which each was created, stemming from a recollection, an anecdote, a whimsical delirium or all of these combined.

The human being is represented alone, in relationship with an object, sowing, transforming or creating it, in a determined geographical location. The content emphasizes the internal dynamics within the individual, with a view to introspection.

- Raymond Martin