Review

"Baby Blue," Hand-Dyed Ripstop Nylon Kite.

Graham A. Martin
Artistic Evolution: The Beginning

By appointment during business hours.

Tomasic & Rehorn
419 N 6th St.
Kansas City, KS
913.281,3828

Hours: Monday-Friday; call for appointment.
Runs through: TBD, so call ahead.

Artist's site: http://www.http://www.coroflot.com/public/individual_details.asp?individual_id=317114&c=1&
Gallery site: http://www.tomasicrehorn.com

Graham A. Martin takes textile art into another dimension.

Literally.

The dimension in question? Up.

Two usual suspects — wall hangings and wearable art — are in the lineup of Martin's show at Tomasic & Rehorn in Kansas City, Kansas. Both lines are colorful and attractive (to purchasers as well as viewers; Martin couldn't keep his scarves on the rack for long at his opening reception) .

But the stars of Artistic Evolution: The Beginning are a series of hand-dyed nylon kites, complete with hand-dyed tails.

And yes, they fly.

"The big ones are really easy to fly," Martin said during last week's "Follow the Dotte" art walk. "The smaller ones are a little more of a challenge."

Call it "playable art," then. Playful, too.

"I was putting together my senior show, and I needed something different from what everyone else was doing," said Martin, who graduated in May with a BFA from the University of Kansas. "I thought, 'Who doesn't love kites?'"

A sense of soaring joy, clearly, is at the heart of Martin's art ... all the way back to the beginning.

I will never forget my first day of weaving class, he writes. We started by weaving paper and I could not have had more fun. I could not get enough of weaving. What happened that night in North Georgia I could never explain, but the effects of it I am still feeling today. I have found my passion for fibers.

The roots run even deeper than that, though — all the way back to childhood.
My greatest influence is my Grandmother, Martin explains. When I was a child, I would spend the summers with her and we would make crafts all summer long. I have many fond memories of putting on plays and making costumes with her and the other neighborhood kids.

Not that everything has been sunshine and fair breezes along the way.

While making these pieces there were a range of emotions for happy and excitement to disappointment and fear, Martin writes. But somewhere between all the emotions things came together and I found peace. There is a distinctive style that presents itself within my work. It is geometric, fun, lighthearted, and always eye-catching. My philosophy is that life should be celebrated and I try to express that in my work.

That sense of childlike (in every good sense) openness and joy is as uplifting as the air currents that lift Martin's kites.

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