Drawing inspiration from sources as varied as Buddhism and Amy Winehouse, Chris Martin approaches painting with a spirit of surrender, often remarking that he “lets the paintings make themselves.” The result is a body of bold, abstract work that probes the elusive psychological impulses underlying artistic creation. His canvases feature flat yet richly textured fields of saturated color, frequently incorporating found materials and deeply personal paper ephemera.Works such as Untitled (2013) reveal the legacy of Pablo Picasso’s collages, while their emphatic geometries reflect Martin’s self-professed affinity for Piet Mondrian. His practice matured in 1980s New York City, amid the rise of the East Village art scene—shaped in part by figures such as Keith Haring—and the profound devastation of the AIDS crisis.