Breon Martin

In 1999 Martin undertook a Diploma of Art, Craft and Design at TAFE in Hobart, where continued designing and making furniture. Later that year he won a prize in an exhibition at the Salamanca Long Gallery for a stool he had designed. During his second year at TAFE he began selling this design at Featherston interiors.

Pop art comes to mind when viewing Martin’s works. A mundane object of the everyday is presented with a mix of materials and metals we would usually overlook. The type is a garbled and indecipherable piece of information: it is a sign that cannot help us understand where we are going or have arrived at. We look for secret codes that may or may not be embedded and we are intent on understanding what it really means. Constructed of salvaged signs and typeface, these works presents a confusion of lettering which questions our conditioning to observe and react to signs in an instant.

After many years of browsing his mothers Vogue Living magazines, Breon Martin’s growing appreciation for retro furniture took shape when he moved into his own flat and decided to make his own furniture rather than spend large amounts on classic pieces. An adult education course in upholstery cemented this interest and his career as an artist began.

After he completed his diploma at TAFE, Martin began his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Tasmanian School of Art, majoring in furniture design. One of his minor subjects was sculpture, which appealed to him as it is a supporting practise when working in the field of object design. During his studies began sculpturing bold block shaped type out of native Tasmanian timber off cuts he was able to source from the art school, recycling centres and building sites. The response from his supervisors was conducive to him investigating this further and to exhibit the works which he now sells.