Artist Cristina Martinez has built her career around painting women, creating bold and emotionally charged portraits that reflect her Mexican and Black heritage. Based in Tacoma, Washington, Martinez draws inspiration from both her cultural roots and the Pacific Northwest landscape that surrounded her childhood. Her distinctive artistic style features women with stems for necks, symbolizing constant growth and change through life's blooming and wilting moments.
Martinez's artistic journey is deeply connected to her personal story and family background. Raised by her Mexican mother who had her at age 15, the artist witnessed firsthand the resilience and determination of the women in her family. "I was raised by the Mexican side of my family and I saw the resilience of the women who raised me," Martinez explained. "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 symbolic stem necks that appear in all of Martinez's female subjects represent more than just artistic style. "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. This botanical metaphor also reflects her childhood in the Pacific Northwest, where she was constantly surrounded by trees and nature, elements she didn't fully appreciate until she became an artist.
Martinez's work deliberately focuses on telling impactful stories about Black and brown women's experiences. When approaching new projects, she asks herself, "What is the most impactful story I can tell right now?" Her paintings feature bold contrasting colors and figurines that evoke intense emotions, often incorporating elements of intentional messiness alongside joy and pain. The art that decorated her childhood home, the food she grew up eating, and the colors that surrounded her all play crucial roles in her current artistic expression.
The theme of finding beauty in unexpected places runs throughout Martinez's work, inspired directly by her mother's story. Her mother had originally planned to give her up for adoption, with people present at the birth ready to take the baby. However, at the last minute, her mother decided to keep her and dedicate her life to raising her daughter. "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," Martinez reflected. This experience taught her that challenges can transform into sources of hope and beauty.
Martinez made the bold decision to become a full-time artist even while raising two children, a choice that reflects her commitment to representation in the arts. "When I was younger I didn't see a lot of people who looked like me that had art as a career," she explained. "I saw a lot of very hardworking people who clocked in and clocked out." She hopes her visibility as a successful Black and Mexican artist will inspire others to trust their creative instincts and pursue their artistic dreams.
Her artistic practice extends beyond just creating when inspiration strikes. Martinez emphasizes the importance of documenting art through all emotional states – whether inspired, depressed, happy, struggling financially, or thriving. "I'm also constantly reminding myself that I don't have to share every single thing that I create," she noted. "Some things can really just be to document the times and document my own personal experience." She maintains her creative flow by reading extensively and living spontaneously, allowing life experiences to continuously fuel her work.
For emerging artists, Martinez advocates for embracing mistakes and authentic self-expression. "I've put myself out there in a way that has allowed myself to make mistakes," she said. "The people who support my work have allowed me to move freely as I've discovered myself." She warns against comparing one's work to others and emphasizes that there will never be a perfect situation to make art, encouraging artists to find moments to create despite responsibilities and constraints.
Currently, Martinez is working on what she considers one of her most meaningful projects – a collaboration with ten Mexican artists in Seattle through the Mexican Consulate. The project's theme of belonging allows her to honor her grandmother and the house where she felt she belonged most as a child. "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," Martinez said. This project represents a full-circle moment in her artistic journey, allowing her to celebrate and honor the Mexican side of her family that shaped her resilient spirit.
