“Passing On is a project that brings together over fifty years of work by my late wife, Martha Fleury, from her early childhood to her passing in November 2023. A deeply private yet prolific artist, Martha left behind an estate of more than 1,400 paintings, drawings, and journals. What she shared publicly was only a glimpse; the work I’ve since discovered reveals a far greater depth. This project is about passing her work on.

I have established the Martha Fleury Public Trust as a way to share her legacy. Throughout the three days of the Art Nest exhibition members of the public are invited to become trustees by selecting a work and taking responsibility for its care. There is no cost, only a commitment to live with and care for the work. In this way, her artwork is dispersed to be held collectively rather than stored away.

The other part of this project consists of an installation I have created by assembling some of Martha’s artworks along with her personal effects and furniture to create a series of tableaus. These arrangements offer a glimpse into her world, her habits, her sensibility, her presence, while also serving as a sort of artistic collaboration between the two of us.

This project is an act of sharing her work, her memory, and the responsibility that comes with both. I want her work to be seen, lived with, and carried forward in many hands.”