With these paintings I aim to imbue the visual language of the sciences with syrup-like sentiment. I get emotional about synthetic chemistry like an estranged friend. I want to look at my lover’s sperm under the microscope. There is a fallibility in both the haziness of memory and the absolutist nature of scientific imagery.
Words by Sean Martin
Sean Martin is a painter working in Naarm (Melbourne), originally from Ngambri and Ngunnawal Country (Canberra). Much of his work is concerned with sentimentality and memory. Figurative scenes are stripped and scoured of their detailed truth, using a restricted palette and deliberate mark-making to embellish memories with absence.
He has recently been concerned with applying this aesthetic treatment to the visual language of the sciences. Recently graduated from a Bachelor of Science at the Australian National University, Martin is currently completing his Honours year at La Trobe University, majoring in molecular biology.