Martha Waijop

Every sculpture has a front, a back, and sides. This observation is so simple, logical, and obvious that it almost sounds like a cliché.
However, one important characteristic of clichés is that they are usually true. That is why it remains relevant to realize that many sculptors often forget that sculptures must be viewed from all sides and therefore need to be engaging from every angle. Many focus so strongly on the front view and frontal approach that their work loses its tension when seen from less conventional perspectives.

“Dead angles” are detrimental to the optimal experience of a sculpture. Martha Waijop is constantly aware of this. She maximizes the potential of sculptural means by continuously rotating the improvised turntable on which her works in progress are placed during the creative process. Only in this way can she ensure that visual tension is maintained from every viewpoint.

Sculptural thinking is always central in Martha Waijop’s approach. She creates sculptures that invite viewing from all sides and give the impression that the distinction between front and back has largely disappeared. When placed on a slowly rotating platform, it becomes clear that the nature and character of the forms are constantly changing. As a result, the sculptures literally acquire new dimensions, meanings, and interpretations. This justifies the conclusion that the sculptor from Beekbergen not only creates sculptures but also expands ways of seeing.

Anyone observing Martha Waijop’s sculptures may feel that sculptural thinking has become second nature to her. Yet this is less self-evident than it seems. Initially, she worked mainly in two dimensions, viewing the world through a painter’s eye. From that perspective, her first spatial explorations gradually emerged. More than forty years ago, she created her first figurative sculptures in a style closely related to the work of Charlotte van Pallandt. Recognizability was the primary guiding principle, while spatial thinking and the liberation of form from mere imitation of reality followed later. Although her artistic direction has since changed completely, traces of her connection to painting can still be found in her sculptural work.

From: “Martha Waijop – Sculptures” by Wim van der Beek