Martin Selman works in the Carrara tradition, named after the Italian marble quarry that has provided the world’s carvers with their material, including such masters as Michelangelo. The Studio Objects are part of a series inspired by the contemporary matter of our everyday lives, which Selman ties to the classical traditions of marble sculpture. Selman finely sculpts the marble to question the idea of perception, referencing dual notions of hard/soft, heavy/light, and real/unreal in his work. When grouped together, an interplay between the objects begins to assert itself.
Selman gained a Bachelor of Arts in 1991 from Massey University and then completed a Diploma of Visual Art and Design at EIT, Hawkes Bay. In 2002 he studied classical art in Italy and visited workshops in Carrara, Rome and Florence. His studies extended in Britain, and he also taught in Switzerland. He has an established reputation as a great artist and teacher of his craft in New Zealand.