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portrait of the artist

My art compels viewers to confront the immediacy of the human condition, offering a mirror in which they may glimpse their own humanity. In an era where digital life threatens to engulf us, my work seeks to rekindle a sense of connection, both to ourselves and to one another. I create with a sense of urgency because there is an urgent need to truly know and understand one another, especially as technology deepens the distances between us.

My Story

My journey as an artist has been a testament to resilience, transformation, and the search for meaning. Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) in my late thirties—a systemic, inflammatory form of arthritis—I have navigated a path marked by both creative triumphs and physical challenges. For years, I continued to work through the pain, adapting my methods and materials, but eventually, AS changed the way I approached my art.

Rather than allow this condition to define me, I transformed it into a source of insight. My struggles became a catalyst for change, leading me to the field of psychotherapy, where I now help others navigate their own pain and complexity. Yet I remain an artist at heart, translating the same passion for understanding the human experience into my work with clients.

Over the years, I have received numerous awards, including two New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowships, and have been an artist-in-residence at the Medana Art Festival in Slovenia and The Vermont Studio Center. My work has been featured in exhibitions and publications such as American Artist, Manifest Press International Drawing Annual 13, and Create! Magazine.

Artist Statement

The Mind

My work is a journey into the psyche—a dialogue between the conscious and unconscious, the seen and the unseen. It explores the tension between order and chaos, permanence and impermanence. Whether through figuration or abstraction, I aim to capture the fragile beauty of existence.

At the heart of my art is the human figure—at once a symbol of our shared humanity and a vessel for personal expression. My experience with chronic illness has deepened my appreciation for the body’s vulnerability and resilience. It has also enriched my understanding of the shadows we carry—the unspoken fears, memories, and desires that shape us.

Drawing upon Jungian psychology, I weave archetypes and symbols into my work, seeking to illuminate the depths of the human experience. Each piece is an invitation to reflect, to encounter what is hidden, and to rediscover what is essential.

Two abstract male figures
A female figure

The Body: Vulnerability, Resilience, and the Wounded Healer

At the core of my work is a profound reverence for the human form—a testament to our fragile, embodied existence. The body is not merely a subject; it is a vessel of memory, emotion, and transformation. Whether rendered in chalk, silverpoint, or digital imagery, the human figure in my work captures the delicate balance between strength and vulnerability.

Living with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), a chronic autoimmune condition, has indelibly shaped my art. The pain, stiffness, and unpredictability of this condition are mirrored in my creative process—each line and stroke becomes a gesture of resilience, each figure a reflection of the tension between endurance and surrender.

This experience connects me to the archetype of the Wounded Healer, a concept rooted in Jungian psychology. Like the myth of Asclepius, the healer who draws wisdom from his own suffering, I draw insight from my own struggles—both as an artist and a therapist. My work is not just about capturing the beauty of the human form, but about honoring the scars, shadows, and stories that shape us.

By embracing the paradox of the Wounded Healer, I offer a space where the broken and the whole coexist. My art invites viewers to confront their own fragility and strength, to see that suffering is not merely a wound but a source of profound insight.

Artificial Intelligence and Creativity

In recent years, I have engaged in a creative dialogue with Artificial Intelligence—not as a passive tool, but as a collaborator and sometimes a censor. While AI has allowed me to extend my reach, generating symbolic imagery and echoing my aesthetic vision, it has also revealed a darker truth. Platforms like MidJourney, once a source of inspiration, now impose vague community guidelines that sterilize art, reducing the human form to a “risk vector.”

Censorship has not simply silenced erotic or provocative imagery—it has erased the complexity, ambiguity, and symbolic depth that define my work. What began as a digital muse became an automated judge, mistaking symbolic bodies for obscenity and suppressing anything that challenged sanitized norms.

Yet I continue to explore this tension. I see AI as a mirror of our cultural shadow—our fear of vulnerability, our hunger for control, our denial of desire. My work with AI is not just a creative experiment—it is a confrontation with the algorithms that shape our perception of art, beauty, and humanity.

Through my work—whether shaped by brush, chalk, or algorithm—I remain committed to capturing the beauty, complexity, and mystery of the human experience.

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  • 2021
    Waterloo Arts, 2021 Waterloo Arts Festival, 8/6 – 9/18. Cleveland, OH Works on Paper Gallery, The Codex Project, 9/2 – 9/29. Philadelphia, PA Brand Library and Art Center, Brand 49 Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, 9/11 – 10/30. Glendale, CA, Catalog. McNeese State University, 34th Annual McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition, 3/25 – 5/6. Lake Charles, LA University of North Carolina, Asheville, Drawing Discourse: 12th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Drawing, 1/22 – 2/21. Asheville, NC Catalog
  • 2020
    Reece Museum, FL3TCH3R Exhibit: Social and Politically Engaged Art, 10/5–12/11. Johnson City, TN. Catalog Waterloo Arts, 2020 Waterloo Arts Festival, 10/9 – 11/14. Cleveland, OH Malamegi Lab15 Art Prize, Milan, Italy, Summer 2020 Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Figure It Out, 4/4-5/17. Healdsburg, CA The Arts Council of Fayetteville, Size Matters, 4/24 – 5/16. Fayetteville, NC Todd Art Gallery, Middle Tennessee State University, Form, Line, Shape, Space, 3/12-4/1. Murfreesboro, TN. Catalog LaGrange Art Museum, Third LaGrange Southeast Regional Exhibition, 2/21-4/18. LaGrange, GA. Catalog
  • 2019
    Lexington Art League, The Present of Things Past, 7/19-8/23. Lexington, KY Site:Brooklyn, Red, 6/14–7/13. New York, NY Manifest Gallery, One Shot (art made in one sitting), 3/8-4/5. Cincinnati, OH M S Rezny Gallery, pal•imp•sest(2):bearing traces of an earlier form, 2/19–3/30. Lexington, KY Giles Gallery, Eastern Kentucky University, Chautauqua Exhibition on the theme of Truths and Consequences, 1/22 - 2/15. Richmond, KY University of North Carolina, Asheville, Drawing Discourse: 10th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Drawing, 1/18 – 2/22. Asheville, NC. Catalog
  • 2018
    ARC Gallery, pal•imp•sest:bearing traces of an earlier form, 11/28-12/22. Chicago, IL Site:Brooklyn, Mixed Media, 11/9–12/15. New York, NY Moon Gallery, Berry College, Blot, 10/17–12/15. Mt. Berry, GA Barrett Art Center, New Directions 2018, 10/6–11/17. Poughkeepsie, NY Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Figure Study- Hidden Story, 9/8-10/21. Healdsburg, CA ARC Gallery, Pride and Prejudice, 6/20–7/14. Chicago, IL The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, Art and Fear, 6/1–7/28. Cape Girardeau, MO
  • 2017
    Purdue University Galleries, Drawing Resurfaced II, 11/13-12/15. West Lafayette, IN. Catalog George Segal Gallery, Art Connections 13, 11/19-12/15. Montclair, NJReece Museum, FL3TCH3R Exhibit: Social and Politically Engaged Art, 10/9–12/15. Johnson City, TN. Catalog Manifest Gallery, Nude, 8/18–9/15. Cincinnati, OH TAG Gallery, CA Open 2017, 8/9–8/26. Los Angeles, CA. Catalog
  • 2020
    Figure It Out. Healdsburg: Healdsburg Center for the Arts, 4/2020 https://healdsburgcenterforthearts.org/figure-it-out/#gallery Size Matters, The Arts Council of Fayetteville, Fayetteville, NC, 4/2020 https://www.theartscouncil.com/size-matters-virtual-art-exhibition
  • 2019
    International Drawing Annual 13. Cincinnati: Manifest Press. “Temporal Slippage at the MS Rezny Gallery,” Under Main, March 25, 2019, http://www.under-main.com/newsletter/temporal-slippage-at-the-ms-rezny-gallery/ “A Quiet Revolution: Interview with Martin Beck,” Create!Magazine. February 26, 2019 https://createmagazine.com/read/martin-beck-interview/ Darland, Joel, “Truth(s) and Consequences,” Under Main, February 10, 2019, http://www.under-main.com/newsletter/truths-and-consequences/ 10th Annual Drawing Discourse. Asheville: University of North Carolina, Asheville, 2019. “Martin Beck.” Create!Magazine, February 2019.
  • 2018
    “Art and Life with Martin Beck” VoyageChicago (The Thought-Provokers: Celebrating Artists & Creatives). December 18, 2018 http://voyagechicago.com/interview/art-life-martin-beck/ “An Artistic Voyage: exploring local creative and artistic works". VoyageChicago, 8/30/2018. http://voyagechicago.com/2018/08/30/artistic-voyage-exploring-local-creative-artistic-works/ Figure Study - Hidden Story. Healdsburg: Healdsburg Center for the Arts, 8/2018 https://healdsburgcenterforthearts.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/FigureStudyHiddenStoryCatalog.pdf
  • 2017
    Kamholtz, Jonathan, “The Place of the Nude: 9th Annual NUDE: Exploring the Uncovered Human Form,” Aeqai, September 23, 2017, http://aeqai.com/main/2017/09/the-place-of-the-nude-9th-annual-nude-exploring-the-uncovered-human-form-manifest-august-17-september-15-2017/ Kissel, Hunter, “The Human Body, Reconsidered.” Under Main, September 4, 2017, http://www.under-main.com/arts/the-human-body-reconsidered/.
  • Awards, 2018 - 2021
    2021 Brand Library and Art Center, Brand 49, Robert Brown Award 2020 LaGrange Art Museum, Third LaGrange Southeast Regional Exhibition, Best in Show 2019 Vermont Studio Center. Artist in Residence, September 2019, Johnson, VT 2019 Eastern Kentucky University Chautauqua Exhibition, Award of Distinction 2018 Southeastern Missouri Arts Council, Art and Fear, Honorable Mention
  • 1986
    State University of New York at Buffalo, BFA Buffalo, NY
  • 1992
    Carnegie Mellon University, MFA Pittsburgh, PA
  • 2023
    University of Kentucky, School of Social Work, MSW Lexington, KY

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