www.hollyballardmartz.com

Born in Los Angeles, multidisciplinary artist Holly Ballard Martz has called the Pacific Northwest home since 1975. She began her undergraduate studies at Cornell University and received her BFA in Printmaking from the University of Washington. Her work has been exhibited nationally and is held in many prominent collections, including the Gates Foundation, the City of Seattle, and the University of Washington. Her 2018 solo show, Pattern Recognition, was featured in BUST Magazine and Artnet News identified her as a “Fierce Feminist” for her participation in the We Vote Parade in NYC leading up to the 2018 midterm elections. In the spring of 2019, she unveiled her largest work to date, The Greatest Show on Earth, a thirty-foot circus tent constructed from fifty US flags, at METHOD Gallery in Seattle. An image of the installation was chosen for a billboard in NYC as a part of Ministry of Truth 1984/2020, an exhibit that was included in the New York Times as one of “The Most Important Moments in Art in 2020.” Martz mounted her first museum solo show, domestic bliss, in 2020 at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art. She is the recipient of a McMillen Foundation Fellowship and an Artist Trust Grant for Artist Projects, and is a 2022 Neddy Award Finalist. Her monumental piece in support of reproductive rights, danger of nostalgia in wallpaper form (in utero), is installed in the Bellevue Arts Museum Forum through winter 2022. Martz is represented by ZINC contemporary.

“I began my installation danger of nostalgia in wallpaper form (in utero) six years ago as a response to attacks from the right to safe and legal abortion. It is a piece composed of hangers hand-bent into the female reproductive system, a reminder of a time before abortions were legalized. Since the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, it has become even more relevant.”

“Social and political issues have driven my work for many years, but this current moment, with our democracy hanging in the balance, has instilled an even greater sense of urgency. There aren’t enough hours in the day to confront the seemingly constant onslaught of challenges to our fundamental rights. I certainly never lack for inspiration in that regard.”

“The work that I make is often a direct response to personal experience. The act of making is a form of therapy, an outlet for intense emotions. It is immensely gratifying when the work is put into the world and connects with viewers who are moved to share their stories. It serves as a reminder that I am not alone in my struggles.”