Martyn Cross is primarily a painter, creating works that speak to ancient and mythic lands. Applying thin layers of dry-brush pigment, the paintings are reminiscent of unearthed artifacts. Drawing on a myriad of concepts from mythology and the medieval, Cross’s paintings personify the landscape. Figures, eyes and solitary limbs emerge from clouds and rivers, speaking to an alternate fiction. Ambiguous narratives are formed in reoccurring scenes and motifs, creating an immersive world.

Cross states, ‘At the heart of my practice lies a blend of compulsions: an unnerving need to physically produce something with my hands; a search for truth; to feel some kind of connection to the space I exist within; to imagine other potential human existence or experience beyond what we know.’

Martyn Cross (b. 1975 UK) lives and works in Bristol, UK. He holds a BA in Fine Art from Bath Spa University. In 2021, he had a solo exhibition at Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA. His artworks were recently included in A Thought Sublime, a group exhibition at Marianne Boesky Gallery, NY (2021) and Ratio 3's Summer Sessions group exhibition in Los Angeles, CA (2021). Cross will have a solo exhibition at Hales London this coming winter.