Essay by Elli Walsh

The immersive ocean paintings of Martine Emdur are acts of emotional excavation. For over two decades, the Sydney-based artist has cultivated a distinctive practice that sees figures poised between presence and dissolution, probing intimacy, vulnerability, and the weight of being. The recurring perspectives in her work – looking down into water, floating bodies, solitary swimmers – serve as surrogates for interior states and moments of emotional suspension. Largely self-taught, Emdur’s brushwork is layered and alive, capturing both the pulse of human experience and the shimmering light of the sea.