Ruthie Martin’s latest paintings take inspiration from an area of managed wildness on the edge of human habitat. Animated by visual clues found in the landscape, her work explores the historical use of this piece of land, now reclaimed by nature, over time. The nature reserve nestles on a river floodplain, and groundwater seeps through as reed bed, pond, and stream. In Martin's work, reflective aluminium, which is often visible through the paint, recalls this watery presence which represents both a life-giving force for wildness and a potential danger for human settlement. 

Martin is especially interested in how our wellbeing is positively affected by spending time in nature, an indication that we are part of nature and not separate from it. Her artistic process begins here: “I am inspired by the philosophy of the artist’s compulsory abandonment to the forces of all-powerful nature.” This is interpreted by a tuning into the physical experience of being present at the scene, without becoming lost in thought. Paint-sketching en plein air, the artist's direct response is captured with observational mark-making which embodies the energy and intensity found in nature. This encourages an immediate sense of connection with the natural scene through the work.

Subsequent studio compositions aim to retain the spontaneity of the original sketches. Martin's work materialises as a site of synchrony between what is seen and what is felt – between the physical landscape and human fields of thought and feeling. The process mirrors the way our memories present to us not a definitive version of reality, but an approximate interpretation which triggers emotional response.