Martha Hauston

Memoir Experienced

Inspired by: Lionel Reinford, Winter in New England

sculpture

38″ x 13″

2023

Nature engenders memories and emotions, providing a quiet structure of containment and inviting reconnection with the self. Giant pine trees support cathedrals to the sky where light and imagination come and go like clouds or shimmering window candles in winter. “The world as he [we] would like it to be” is portrayed in Lionel Reinford’s peaceful, ordered winter landscape painting. As non-traditional “mature” persons working with under-served and vulnerable populations, the natural world has cradled and comforted Reinford and me through times when we could perhaps find no sense or control in the “real world.” Our encounters with nature have supported reflection, solace, and sense of order. Collecting sticks, moss, memorabilia, and fibers found in the woods, on beaches, or even discarded on a stranger’s front lawn, orders my world. Disparate pieces reconstructed illustrate “an inner world I [we] can affect but not control.” Loss, durability, and remembrance is messy.

Martha Hauston

Journey by flight

fiber sculpture

33″ x 35″

2023

Formed from a deconstructed antique petticoat, vintage dress and dress pattern fragments with text, this fiber sculpture incorporates memory and metaphor to express complicated family dynamics and deep attachments. The constructed form of a bird rising in flight contains inner fragments of a poem written to process a difficult period, the aging and passing of my parents. It represents my memoir and journey.

Martha Hauston

Mother Wore a Pillbox Hat

mixed media assemblage

13″ x 17″

2022

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (1929-1994), was an international style icon known for style and elegance. She popularized “pillbox hats” and wore a Halston pink pillbox and Chanel pink suit on the day of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. My class practiced lettering that day, when the Principal announced the President had been shot. Jackie’s strength and grace fortified the nation and was a model for my Baby Boomer generation. This conceptual construction transforms personal memories into physical form. Found materials and constructions combine to evoke ot reflect experiences. My mother and I copied Jackie’s hair and clothing style.

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