Artist Statement

This show is the second time Jessica Martin and Sébastien Pochan have exhibited together.  They are a married couple of 24 years!  

For this show, they have both been thinking about the central role of intuition and improvisation in their work, and this conversation has revealed for each of them a new perspectives about their work as people and artists in the world.

Sébastien’s approach is entirely inspired by the wood he salvages from the local area.  The size, species, grain, and imperfections all inform the shapes he creates.  The work is slow and precise, but wood contains many surprises along the way— cracks, hidden knots, grain that switches directions… All of these unknowns make the overall process one that must stay flexible— a kind of “yes, and” mentality has to be maintained in order to stay open to changing the design as needed.   The final product is a collaboration between Sébastien and the material, a discovery.

Jessica’s work is deeply rooted in her research about our relationship to memory, joy, and nature.  This current series is based on imagery from geology and textile design— a means of thinking about our own versions of slow work in the context of the deep time of sedimentary layers and ice bergs.  Though her process begins with more methodical research, her compositions and the act of of painting are more improvisational.  Imagery is distilled into simple forms, disparate patterns are layered and transformed.  

In thinking more about their work together, they both agree that the improvisational aspect of the work allows them to access deeper truths about themselves and how they can positively participate in the world.  Lately, the work we have both been producing feels like a means to cut through the today’s generalized noise and anxiety to find timeless sources of comfort and strength. This comes through in the round shapes and smooth surfaces of Sébastien’s sculptures, and the colors and textures in Jessica’s paintings.  Each of the pieces in this show are about this process of going slow and staying open to new paths forward—a much-needed medicine for today.

Artist Bio

Jessica Martin is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Northern California. Her work explores our relationship to nature, time, and joy.

Jessica studied Anthropology at Vassar College and did her field work in Madagascar and France. She received her MA at California College of the Arts. Jessica has been Artist in Residence for Google, and her work has been shown throughout the Bay Area and abroad, including Amélie Maison Paris, Headlands Center for the Arts, Southern Exposure, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, Traywick Contemporary, Pro Arts, The Lab, the diRosa Preserve, New Langton Arts, and national film festivals. She has been a guest on Full Expression Podcast and co-hosted the Headspace Podcast to talk about creativity as a tool for life. Her work has been awarded grants from the NAEA, Creative Sonoma, and California Arts Council. In 2022, she created the viral public hotline art project featuring kids life advice, called Peptoc. It received over 10 million calls in its first 9 months, and continues to get tens of thousands of calls each day (call 707-8-PEPTOC!).

In addition to her studio work, Jessica is the founder and director of Roving Venue (RV), an itinerant gallery that produces innovative community-based public art projects in rural Sonoma County. She is also lead teaching artist and arts program director for West Side Elementary in Healdsburg, CA.

Sébastien Pochan is a winemaker and artist-woodworker who is based in Healdsburg, California. He grew up in France, Africa, and Tahiti.  

In his thirties, he became fascinated with furniture making and traditional joinery techniques through the works of George Nakashima and Shaker craftsmen. In the early months of the pandemic, he started experimenting with abstract carvings and has since begun to incorporate lathe turned pieces into some of his sculpture. He cites Constantin Brancusi, Barbara Hepworth, Martin Puryer, and JB Blunk as sources of inspiration. His work has been shown at Gallery Lulo in Healdsburg and Carter&Co in St Helena.

“I work mainly with salvaged wood from the area around Healdsburg (oak, walnut, madrone, bay), and my process is usually driven by the initial shape of the piece of wood. I think wood turning has influenced the forms that emerge from my carving, the curves, the hollows... Some forms re-emerge regularly that resemble vessels or masks (possibly from my exposure to African folk art). There is also a recurrence of inside/outside surfaces as a metaphor for the hidden and mysterious within ourselves and nature. I don’t really think about a possible meaning until the piece is almost done so it is as if some deeper insight was revealed through the process of making and that part is immensely gratifying.”