Martin Swift | Carnis

Wagah
14” X 11”
ink on paper
2012

Statement:

As with the accompanying work that explores masculinity and
identity, the origins of this series stem from my upbringing.
I grew up in a household without television. My twin sister and
I were blessed with one of the last truly unplugged childhoods.
Our youthful curiosity was satisfied by what lay immediately
outside our front door. As a result I was hopelessly ill equipped
to perform in a world ruled by popular culture and nationalized
social agenda. When I entered my early teens, the minutiae and
nuance of my outlook was confronted by a blunt need to recall
names and events utterly foreign and hopelessly mundane.
I was unimpressed by this clarion call to conformity and
resisted its influence until it occurred to me that what repulsed
me was not the substance of our culture, but my utter lack
of objective context. My most formative years were not tied
to any specific cross section of media, thus freeing me to
explore where it all came from. I have become an obnoxiously
specific yet laboriously entropic anthropologist of sorts. The
work presented in Vacancy is a sample of my investigations of
gender, sexuality, childhood uncertainty, science fiction, history,
and pop culture.

Robbie and Pat (Detail)
12” X 12”
oil on canvas
2013

VACANCY



MARTIN SWIFT VACANCY