Oliver Ashworth-Martin

The abstract sculptures and drawings of contemporary artist Oliver Ashworth-Martin celebrate the hidden depths of nature. His works reflect the familiar – but also unfamiliar – structures of vegetation, mainly Australian. The striking contrasts between the organic and the inorganic reveal the materiality of the shapes and textures, as well as the underlying mathematical and geometric harmony.

From England to Australia: the path of a contemporary sculptor

Born in 1986, Oliver Ashworth-Martin was raised in the Cotswolds, a region in the south-west of England. He has been passionate about art since childhood, and graduated from Cardiff School of Art and Design (UK) in 2008. Between 2008 and 2014, he worked as production manager in the London studio of Tom Price, a contemporary sculptor.
Oliver Ashworth-Martin now lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. This departure marked a major turning point in his artistic career: “I was struck by the intense colours, the richness of vast eucalyptus bush and variety of forms and textures that was so different to my home land.“. His exploration of the nature, landscapes and botany of this gigantic island deeply influences his current work.
Oliver Ashworth-Martin’s work has been shown in a number of gallery exhibitions and has won various awards. In 2019, the artist won the Judges Prize Award, From Nature, at Gasworks Arts Park and, in 2018, the Highly Commended Award at the Scenic World Sculpture Prize.

A fascination for the interface between science and art

Oliver Ashworth-Martin’s passion for nature has been with him from an early age. His current visual work is an echo of this. For example, the artist chooses natural elements, often from Australian flora, to represent or use in his work. Meteorites – the subject of the ‘Achondrites’ series – are another aspect of this interest.
The contemporary sculptor explains his approach as follows: “As an artist I am interested in the grey areas, the fringes between science and art, particularly that of fractals and mathematics within nature. Both artist and scientist strive to see the world in new ways, and to communicate that vision to others. If successful then we have steered another onto a path of wonder and amazement.”

Experimentation, the source of Oliver Ashworth-Martin’s abstract sculptures

At the beginning of Oliver Ashworth-Martin’s abstract sculptures and drawings are often parts of plants from the lush Australian landscape, such as seed pods. The contemporary sculptor points out: “Not only do they shelter and protect the multitude of new life, they also symbolise nature’s continuous cycle of renewal and growth. These forms represent an endless flow of life coming into form, moving through form and leaving form.”
The process of enlargement, abstraction and even the juxtaposition of the organic and the inorganic are at the heart of his work. Oliver Ashworth-Martin uses a number of different processes to achieve this result. In the ‘Traces’ series, for example, he placed seed pods in concrete before burning them. He says: “As nature herself holds the power to violently sculpt our landscape, I too wish to utilise fire as a tool in my sculptural practice.” This process produces ghostly imprints, as well as deposits of carbon and burnt resin. The cavities instantly created in the material contrast with the highly polished concrete.

Seed pods are also used to make the sculptures in the “Achondrites” series. Oliver Ashworth-Martin pours molten metal onto the native seed pods and transforms them into pure carbon. The pods are enclosed in a solid metal matrix, which is then cut into pieces.

Drawing as an exploration of the mysteries of the plant world

Oliver Ashworth-Martin uses charcoal and pastel in meticulous graphic compositions. He reproduces plant motifs with a genuine concern for botanical precision, while at the same time providing enhanced representations. Here again, the plant pods of Australian vegetation (eucalyptus, banksia) inspire him. He delivers an intriguing close-up look at the details of these organic envelopes. The contemporary artist explores the balance and symmetry of plant motifs in a graphic way.