{"id":99505,"date":"2025-10-02T17:31:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T17:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/99505\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T17:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T17:31:10","slug":"cristina-martinez-is-painting-her-roots-through-her-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/99505\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristina Martinez Is Painting Her Roots Through Her Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Artist Cristina Martinez often paints women. And personally, I\u2019m always drawn to her women \u2014 wanting to know the stories behind them, whether they\u2019re crying acrylic tears<\/a> or chaotically applying lipstick<\/a>. The \u201cmess\u201d in her art is often intentional, just as much as the joy or pain she illustrates in her work. Martinez is a Mexican and Black painter from Tacoma, Washington, whose work directly ties into her roots \u2014 the metaphoric roots of growing up with her Mexican mom, whose resilience throughout her life inspired her and the literal roots of nature she was surrounded by in the Pacific Northwest. \u201cEvery woman that I paint has a stem for a neck \u2014 that\u2019s symbolic for me, a reminder that we are constantly growing and changing, and sometimes life feels like we\u2019re wilting and sometimes life feels like we\u2019re blooming,\u201d she said. The double entendre of the stems is also a reflection of the nature she grew up around, looking out the window and seeing windows and trees, moments she didn\u2019t appreciate as a kid that she now interprets differently as an artist.<\/p>\n

Martinez balances identity, womanhood, and heritage throughout her work. Her prints are often bold in contrasting colors, featuring figurines who evoke intense emotion. \u201cWhen I have a new opportunity or project, the first thing I often think to myself is, What is the most impactful story I can tell right now? And then I just try to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you look at your work, there are constant themes and you\u2019re always looking to tell impactful stories. What stories do you feel are most urgent for you to tell today?<\/strong>
I believe that there\u2019s so much power in the stories of Black and brown women and I have really focused on telling them. As I\u2019ve continued to paint and become more of who I am, without even thinking about it, I have been painting these stories of women who have significantly inspired and impacted my life. I feel that, as I\u2019ve continued to share those stories, it\u2019s made my world a little bit smaller because I\u2019ve been able to connect with people who have had similar shared experiences.<\/p>\n

How would you say your Black and Mexican roots influence the way you approach your art?<\/strong>
I was raised by the Mexican side of my family and I saw the resilience of the women who raised me. My mom was 15 years old when she had me. It was just me and her for a lot of my life. That resilience and nothing-can-stop-me mentality has played a significant part in shaping who I am. The art that I grew up with in my home, the food that I grew up eating, and the colors that were around me all play a part in my work. Through my experience living on this Earth, being a Black and Mexican woman, I have been able to take those experiences and put them on the canvas. I feel, as I have continued to paint and really tap into just who I truly am, I have been able to bring in both sides of my culture and make that a part of my art.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Nick Beeba\n <\/p>\n

What is it that you hope people feel or carry with them after experiencing your work?<\/strong>
I try to really put myself out there because I want people to feel like I can do that too or I can trust myself and go on this creative journey. I created this life, I took this jump when I already had two kids and decided to just be a full-time artist and that\u2019s really important for me, even beyond the art, it\u2019s the journey of it. I want people to feel like it\u2019s not so out of reach and that is important to me because when I was younger I didn\u2019t see a lot of people who looked like me that had art as a career or anything in that realm. I saw a lot of very hardworking people who clocked in and clocked out.<\/p>\n

I always joke that when I first saw Bob Ross, I thought, Wow, look at his life. Look, that looks amazing. But it felt so far away from what I would ever be able to do because I didn\u2019t see myself in that. Being open about my journey is just as important as what people take away from the artwork, because I think it\u2019s essential to trust that feeling that some of us get in our quiet moments that we are called to do something bigger. Trusting that feeling completely changed my life and so I want to inspire other people in that way to do the same.<\/p>\n

One of the recurring themes in your art is finding beauty in the unexpected. What draws you to that theme again and again?<\/strong>
I always think of my mom when I think of this concept and this idea, because my mom, like I said, she had me at 15. She had people come to watch me be born who were going to adopt me. She was not keeping me. She was very young and didn\u2019t have many resources, and I was the biggest challenge of her life. She decided at the very last minute to keep me and to just dedicate her life to raising me. For me, it\u2019s like that thing that she thought was going to ruin her life completely, I\u2019m now the thing that she\u2019s the most proud of. I\u2019ve always had that in my mind and I keep that with me when I\u2019m going through things. It\u2019s like you just don\u2019t know. We don\u2019t know what these things mean and what they\u2019re going to mean for us later down the line. I saw my mom take the biggest challenge of her life and pour herself into me so that I can now be here to create and paint and do all these things that I do.<\/p>\n

So for me, finding beauty in the unexpected is when you\u2019re grieving, when you lose people, when you can\u2019t see your way to the light, it\u2019s like what is that one thing that gives you a little tiny bit of hope? I try just to paint that. There are so many stories out there that tell Black and brown struggle and all of that is very, very important. But for me, I try to paint that one thing that feels like hope and focus on that.<\/p>\n

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Art: Cristina Martinez\n <\/p>\n

What do you do when you\u2019re uninspired?\u00a0<\/strong>
I read a lot of books and listen to a lot of audiobooks. I live a very spontaneous life so I try to let those experiences or those books or those moments continue to inspire me. But, the biggest thing that I like to do and what I tell other artists is just to continue to create because it\u2019s really important for us to document what our art looks like when we\u2019re not inspired, what our art looks like when we\u2019re depressed, or when we\u2019re happy, or when we\u2019re broke, or when we\u2019re rich. I\u2019m also constantly reminding myself that I don\u2019t have to share every single thing that I create. Some things can really just be to document the times and document my own personal experience so I try to create myself through those moments because I know that the inspiration is right there, it\u2019s always right there for me if I just keep continuing to create for myself. I find that I usually work my way through it.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give to emerging artists who are trying to carve their own lane?<\/strong>
I\u2019ve put myself out there in a way that has allowed myself to make mistakes. I\u2019ve made a lot of mistakes on my journey. The people who support my work have allowed me to move freely as I\u2019ve discovered myself. It\u2019s allowed people to see me as a human and understand that my journey is not going to look perfect.It\u2019s so easy to look around and be like, Wow, that person makes art that looks like this, and that person makes art that looks like that. Even I fall into that. But ask yourself what you want to say and then create that.<\/p>\n

There will never be this perfect situation to make art. I have to literally find little moments of time to work on a painting because I have a lot of responsibility, and I do because it\u2019s important. So I think just finding ways to create by all means. And the last thing I\u2019ll say is that social media creates a lot of pressure to share everything you create, and that part of your journey where you don\u2019t share things is just as important as the things that you share.<\/p>\n

What has been the most meaningful collaboration of your career so far and why?<\/strong>
This year I\u2019m working on a project with ten Mexican artists in Seattle through the Mexican Consulate. This one means so much to me because I\u2019ve gone through life balancing my identity and learning who I am, so to be recognized in this group of Mexican artists that I admire so much has been very special for me. To be able to create a painting that honors my Mexican side of my family feels so special and full circle for me. Right now that\u2019s probably one of the most important projects that I\u2019ve worked on. The theme is belonging so I get to honor my grandma and her house where I grew up feeling like I belonged the most.<\/p>\n

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