Visions From The Inside (2): Martinez

Artist statement: “My practice examines the brown body, the battleground into which events, perceptions and laws are formed. The Latino body has been the setting of exploitation, marginalization, and persecution. The manipulation of the painting surface, and the act of physically cutting into paper or prints are metaphors for wounds, brands, and communal stereotypes imposed on “these people,” and it causes the viewer to ask how long a group of people can withstand losing parts of themselves. In my work, I choose cutting paper and other surfaces as a crucial technique because it evokes the crafts and customs taught to me as a toddler in Oaxaca, where they continue to be used as techniques to celebrate festivals and mourn the dead. By cutting into maps, paintings, and prints, I take what the mainstream media portrays and rearrange it so that I can finally say my side of this story. I am taking what has been endured by “los invisibles” and putting real faces and narratives to a group that has too often been forgotten.” -Fidencio Martinez