Martha was painted during my filing for divorce. The pose is taken from a Martha Graham dance and I have altered it to distort the figure into an angry wound-up pose, with arrow in hand, ready to release if pushed any further. It was a loose sketch painted in traditional oils. The face was changed to a mask because I was having to contain my anger at the time to thwart danger in the situation—hence the arrow behind the back but the mask of accommodation. The name is a play on Martha Graham and Martha and the Vandellas (the singing group).

The blue swirls on top of the red dress also are an attempt to pacify my anger with purer thoughts and activities.