12.5 x 10.5 x 17 in

Ink on Paper + Wood Arrow

In When You Try to Explain..., Christopher Martin distills a familiar emotional truth into bold typography and stark symbolism. The black arrow piercing the clean white page isn’t just a visual interruption - it’s a metaphor for the futility, even violence, of over-explaining what resists definition.

The text, rendered in Martin’s signature style, reads like a warning, a confession, or a quiet punchline. It invites us to consider how language can sometimes distort rather than clarify - how our attempts to articulate the ineffable can lead us deeper into confusion, alienation, or absurdity.

Minimal yet resonant, the piece echoes Martin’s broader practice of poetic restraint and conceptual clarity. It sits at the intersection of visual art and emotional honesty - funny, strange, and piercingly real.