Ro2 Art is proud to present Close World Open Thought, a solo exhibition featuring new works by artist Kai Peter Martin. The show will run from February 6th through March 6th, 2021. The exhibition will open with an artist reception at Ro2 Art The Cedars located at 1501 S Ervay St, Dallas, TX and will take place from 12-5 PM. Attendance to the reception will be limited to groups no larger than ten over 20 minute intervals - Reservations available via EventBrite: RSVP

Kai Peter Martin’s work focuses on depictions of interiors, while ruminating on concepts of containment, place, and representations of psychological space. Martin’s landscapes are built using multiple perspectives on the same picture plane; this is both a way to delineate a physically impossible space and as a metaphor for the complexity of lived experiences.

In Martin’s most recent works, the artist infuses the surface directly with pigment. There is no canvas for paint to be brushed on; here both are combined through plaster, one of art history’s most ancient mediums. This dense texture allows the artist to add another layer of mark making by etching into the work. Carving into domestic scenes in this way, Martin permeates them with a mysterious narrative.

Artist Statement
“My body of work centers on the use of paper pulp plaster applied to canvas with a variety of techniques. The materiality of the paper pulp plaster allows for a wide range of moves—sculptural relief, painting, drawing, etching—to find compelling ways of building up a surface and image. Some objects edge towards illusion, others are drawn on the surface and fail to fully form, and certain parts rise from the surface three-dimensionally, creating a playful dissonance in the represented space. In contrast to previous work, these new paintings begin with dry pigment mixed directly into the plaster; this pigmented plaster is then used to build up the image of an architectural space. Each block of color contributes to a radically simplified image of a domestic interior, with a pronounced texture and boundaries that are at once well-defined and slightly wobbly. On top of this, various drawing media are used to produce the effect of a skittering attention, animating the space with a tension between the large colored plaster forms and the mark-making on the surface.”

About The Artist
​Kai Peter Martin lives and works in Denton, TX. He studied at Reed College in Portland, OR and at University of North Texas in Denton, TX, receiving his MFA from the latter in 2015. He has exhibited throughout Texas and along the West Coast.