Martha Sturdy is a contemporary sculptor whose work explores the raw, elemental qualities of natural and industrial materials. She often pairs industrial processes with organic forms, working physically with materials such as resin, brass, steel, aluminium, and salvaged wood from rural and mountainous parts of Canada.

Sturdy received her BFA and formal training in sculpture at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art + Design), where she was later awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters in 2006. She is currently represented by Caldwell Snyder Gallery in California, CoBrA Gallery in Shanghai, and Heffel Gallery across Canada.

Her work has been recognised internationally for decades by collectors, artists, designers, and editors. From her wearable sculptural pieces seen in New York in the 1980s to her large-scale sculptural work today, she has been featured in publications including American, Italian, and French Vogue, Wallpaper*, The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s Bazaar España, and Architectural Digest. Her career has been honoured with several distinctions: she was appointed to the Order of British Columbia in 2025, inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2005, and received the Governor General’s Golden Jubilee Award in 2002 for her achievements as a Canadian artist.

As Sturdy describes her practice: “I make what I make; it’s what’s in me. My inspiration comes from many sources. I spend a lot of time in nature, which comes through in my practice. There is both a fundamental simplicity and a fundamental monumentality within the natural world that captivates me. My sculpture is also based in positivity, potential, and connection – connection to the environment and to one another.”