(REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF CULTIVARTE LAREDO)
Meet Angelica Raquel Martinez, Cultivarte’s current Featured Artist.
Native Laredoan Martinez draws much of her inspiration from her upbringing and the culture in which she was raised.
Her work investigates ideas of morality and the soul by using imagery of animals that have a dual purpose of representing a personal loved one, herself, or the animal itself.
Gentle Heavy Ache
“My work is the culmination of the rediscovery and exploration of my love of folklore while growing up in Laredo, a city steeped in Mexican and American cultures. When I was young and surrounded by family, our favorite ritual was storytelling. We gathered around a fire, or sometimes just sat outside in the dark, and took turns telling local lore, myths, and legends,” Martinez said, adding, ”My late grandfather, a man utterly connected to earth, nature, and spirit, usually took the lead. His stories held me in suspense as a child and an adult. His gruff voice and gentle seriousness drove home the nuanced themes of every tale. Since his passing, I’ve returned to these magical memories, and have taken up the lead as storyteller in my own right. Using these very special moments in my life, my own epochs, I’m reinterpreting my experiences to reflect on my own thoughts about the clashing of culture, society, and the relationship between humans and animals.”
Martinez said her current body of work is a conduit for a continued exploration of tales of morality and the soul.
Her latest solo exhibition “Spirit Epoch” at the Lawndale Center for the Arts in Houston navigates the importance of relationships even those that continue after death. Her multidisciplinary practice consists of mixed media painting, needle felting, and textiles that evoke a softness to the visceral and violent subjects she presents.
Martinez works as an educator and an artist in San Antonio. She earned a Bachelors in Fine Arts from Texas State University in 2016 and a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2020.
A Memory Worth Guarding
(Cultivarte Laredo is a non-profit art organization that fosters a supportive cross-cultural community for artists in the border region.The organization’s goal is to provide an accessible hybrid space for artistic studio practice and educational resources for diverse-practice creatives.)
