Born in Hamilton (1964), Leigh Martin’s elegant and restrained abstract paintings, are typified by the subtlety of their surfaces, highlight the importance of the art object, existing independent of narratives and symbolic meaning. Leigh’s works have differed vastly in their chromatic intensity, their viscosity and their scale but each of his works has its own volume and timbre. These terms volume and timbre are important as Leigh's works are influenced by an interest in the qualities and physicality of spatial-ambient noise, resonance, repetition.

  

Leigh’s art education spans the UK, to Scotland BFA 1993 and Post Graduate diploma 1994 at The Glasgow School Of Art) and in 2013 he gained a Master’s Degree in Art and Design (1st Class Hons.) at Auckland Institute of Technology. He has held lecturing and senior tutoring positions at Elam School of Fine Arts, AUT and Unitec.

 

Leigh has completed local residencies as well as in Scotland and his work has been included in several publications including the New art in Scotland and Australian Art Collector. He has gained many awards in New Zealand and abroad. His work is held in the Fletcher Challenge Collection, the James Wallace Collection, Chartwell Collection and Christchurch City Art Gallery. Leigh is represented by Galleries in Germany and New Zealand.

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Leigh is so full of knowledge about art, art practice, materials etc ... and he is very happy to share this info. – S. Lee (2021)

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... just to say how much value I got out of Leigh’s class. That guy really works hard giving attention to both the group and also individuals. His knowledge is so varied and I really enjoyed his enthusiasm ... the more involvement I have with BSA the more impressed I am. – Steve T (2021)