Biography

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Barbara Martin Ingram was born in Michigan, but as a military dependent, was raised all over the country. Spending three formative years in Japan left a lasting impact on her art work. She has been in New Mexico most of her life and calls Santa Fe home.

A magna cum laude graduate of Western Michigan University, Ingram has a Bachelor of arts degree in art and history. She has worked in many media including oil and watercolor painting, textile design, weaving, pottery, printmaking and sculpture.

A past member of both the New Mexico Arts Comission and the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission, Ingram worked to bring the arts to the public schools and small communities in the state.

Artist Statement

Much is made of the subjects of masks as both a cover-up to hide behind and as a transforming agent to allow the pretense of being something other than what is real.
As T. S. Eliot said, we "prepare a face to meet a face."

I believe that creativity is about unmasking. Creativity is about allowing one's true identity to be seen, to be shared, giving validity to each new idea and presenting it as fearlessly as one can—without pretense.

Often, I use nude figures or the suggestion of the nude because it can represent any idea, tell any story and it is the most unmasked symbol there is.

In 1999, my husband of 34 years passed away. His death was profoundly devastating to me. It brought me to the vivid realization of the brevity of one's time to achieve anything in this life. I am, therefore, driven to create while simultaneously finding refuge in the process.

The sum total of my life's experiences fills a reservoir upon which I draw for ideas and inspiration. Each new event, act or observation in my life is faced with an openess which allows me to absorb imagery. All my senses are receptive. Everything experienced, everything felt, contributes to a new stream of creativity.

Questioning myself constantly, I ask, "How can you see in a new way?" After I discover something that works, I challenge myself to use new techniques. Each piece leads to a new form of expression.

Starting with only the hint of an idea filtering through my imagination, I begin.