Design and Art Australia Online

Fern Martins, Indigenous artist, was born in Sydney in 1955. Martins spent her childhood travelling around northern New South Wales with her grandmother. In 1971 she began tertiary studies in fine arts at East Sydney Technical College (now the National Art School) in Darlinghurst. In 1974 she moved to Adelaide and transferred her studies to the South Australian School of Art, and in 1979 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the Torrens College of Advanced Education in Adelaide. During her years of study she became involved in the Women’s Art Movement (W.A.M.) in Adelaide, and was a founding member of the South Australian Sculpture Workshop. Exhibitions included “Sleep Has Its House” (with Jacky Redgate) at the Women’s Art Movement (1979), and “17 Viewpoints” at the Flight Gallery in Adelaide (1980).

In 1981 she returned to Sydney and began working as a picture framer while continuing her art practice. At this time she also became a member of the APMIRA (Artists for Aboriginal Land Rights) committee and coordinated the 1981 and 1982 “Artists for Aboriginal Land Rights” exhibitions at Paddington Town Hall and the “After the Tent Embassy” exhibition (1982) at the Bondi Pavilion. In 1983 she returned to study at East Sydney Technical College and worked as a studio assistant for the sculptor Bert Flugelman. In 1984 she participated in the landmark “Koori Art ’84” exhibition at Artspace in Sydney, and in 1987 she was one of the founding members of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. Her work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Writers:

Fisher, Laura

Date written:

2011

Last updated:

2012