The Artist Who Paints Her Roots
Artist Cristina Martinez often paints women. And personally, I’m always drawn to her women — wanting to know the stories behind them, whether they’re crying acrylic tears or chaotically applying lipstick. The “mess” 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 — 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. “Every woman that I paint has a stem for a neck — that’s symbolic for me, a reminder that we are constantly growing and changing, and sometimes life feels like we’re wilting and sometimes life feels like we’re blooming,” 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’t appreciate as a kid that she now interprets differently as an artist.
Martinez balances identity, womanhood, and heritage throughout her work. Her prints are often bold in contrasting colors, featuring figurines who evoke intense emotion. “When 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.”
When you look at your work, there are constant themes and you’re always looking to tell impactful stories. What stories do you feel are most urgent for you to tell today?
I believe that there’s so much power in the stories of Black and brown women and I have really focused on telling them. As I’ve 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’ve continued to share those stories, it’s made my world a little bit smaller because I’ve been able to connect with people who have had similar shared experiences.
How would you say your Black and Mexican roots influence the way you approach your art?
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.
What is it that you hope people feel or carry with them after experiencing your work?
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’s really important for me, even beyond the art, it’s the journey of it. I want people to feel like it’s not so out of reach and that is important to me because when I was younger I didn’t 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.
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’t 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’s 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.
One of the recurring themes in your art is finding beauty in the unexpected. What draws you to that theme again and again?
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’t 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’s like that thing that she thought was going to ruin her life completely, I’m now the thing that she’s the most proud of. I’ve always had that in my mind and I keep that with me when I’m going through things. It’s like you just don’t know. We don’t know what these things mean and what they’re 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.
So for me, finding beauty in the unexpected is when you’re grieving, when you lose people, when you can’t see your way to the light, it’s 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.
What do you do when you’re uninspired?
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’s really important for us to document what our art looks like when we’re not inspired, what our art looks like when we’re depressed, or when we’re happy, or when we’re broke, or when we’re rich. I’m also constantly reminding myself that I don’t 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’s always right there for me if I just keep continuing to create for myself. I find that I usually work my way through it.
What advice would you give to emerging artists who are trying to carve their own lane?
I’ve put myself out there in a way that has allowed myself to make mistakes. I’ve made a lot of mistakes on my journey. The people who support my work have allowed me to move freely as I’ve discovered myself. It’s allowed people to see me as a human and understand that my journey is not going to look perfect.It’s 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.
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’s important. So I think just finding ways to create by all means. And the last thing I’ll say is that social media creates a lot of pressure to share everything you create, and that part of your journey where you don’t share things is just as important as the things that you share.
What has been the most meaningful collaboration of your career so far and why?
This year I’m working on a project with ten Mexican artists in Seattle through the Mexican Consulate. This one means so much to me because I’ve 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’s probably one of the most important projects that I’ve 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.