Traci Wright Martin’s new show marks her artwork’s future lunar landing.
Greenville artist Traci Wright Martin often sees her new tattoo–she got it this summer while visiting her best friend in California–as she creates her contemporary portrait and figurative work.
A line drawing of the North Star on her drawing hand’s index finger, the tattoo marks a milestone: Her artwork will forever live on the moon.
Reproductions of 19 selected works, stored on Nanofiche, will make their lunar landing in The Lunar Codex Polaris time capsule. Its name–the Latin word for the North Star–and the star’s historic symbology–direction, journey, hope, and more–inspired Martin. She’s taken those ideas and created 10 new pieces exploring lunar and celestial themes with subtle and literal nods to her Lunar Codex artworks.
They are now on display in Polaris, Martin’s solo exhibition at the Grand Bohemian Gallery in Greenville. Funded in part by a Metropolitan Arts Council grant, the show is on display through October.
In her five years in Greenville, Martin has built upon what was an already impressive career. Her mixed-media pieces strikingly combine hyper-realistic charcoal portraits with abstraction rendered in paint, paper, and pastels. Never solely traditional portraits, they tell visual stories of representation and connection.
Traci Wright Martin Adds to Lunar Codex
Her selections for the Lunar Codex came through participation in exhibitions with the PoetsArtists organization. Sitting in the hotel’s lobby, she shared the process of connecting the Lunar Codex artworks’ varied style elements and themes in the new pieces. “I wanted to do something with a literal reference to the moon and to the stars, that lunar theme, just because this is an exciting time in my life,” Martin said.
While those literal references appear as lunar phases in one piece, Martin brought her own celestial interpretations into others by playing with minimalism and geometric angles. Layers of realism and abstraction are present, yet the bold colors and patterns in past works have given way to more muted tones.
Some of the people portrayed in Lunar Codex pieces appear again in Polaris, providing a kind of visual quotation, Martin said. Viewers also will see moths, an often-used design element meant to symbolize inclusion and women in the arts.
To see more of Martin’s artwork visit traciwrightmartin.com or follow her on Instagram @traciwrightmartin.
To the Moon
- The Lunar Codex pieces are being stored on Nanofiche. Made of pure nickel, the dime-sized archival preservation technology is impervious to the Moon’s radiation and extreme temperatures.
- The four Lunar Codex time capsules will go to the Moon as part of missions operated by private launch providers SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, according to a CNN article on the project. The Polaris time capsule is set to launch in November 2024 to the Nobile Crater on the Lunar South Pole.
Traci Wright Marin Exhibit at Grand Bohemian Gallery
Martin is amongst a curated mix of local, national, and international artists The Grand Bohemian Gallery represents. It is “committed to showing 50 percent local artists, all of which we believe represent the best of what the Upstate has to offer,” Gallery Director Kara Soper said. “Most of the work responds to contemporary issues and complements the aesthetic of the natural beauty surrounding the Lodge.”
The gallery, which also carries handmade jewelry, is open Sunday to Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, call 864.520.5300 or visit Grand Bohemian Gallery.
