July 2-28, 2003
"New Works on Paper" by Marta Sanchez
at Las Manitas Avenue Cafe, 211 Congress Ave
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My focus as a painter is to create narratives. Much of my work is oil and enamel painted on metal due to my attraction to the Mexican retablos paintings, which are created on tin. While my early retablos sprang from my admiration for the small paintings, my works are now a vehicle to keep my cultural and ritual upbringing alive, combining my cultural past with my present. As a Mexican American/Chicana artist I consider it important to not only embrace my culture, but also share it with the community.
Simultaneously while painting retablos, I started working on a train yard series. The train yards were a part of my childhood since my parents house was right across from one. For this exhibit I wanted to create a new body of work. I wanted to bridge the ideas of my past imagery of La Danza and other past retablos, with that of my train yards. At a transitional point of my personal interior and exterior, I also wanted it to be light, spontaneous, and clear. To give the viewer a sense of where I have been and where I want to go. To examine and document for others who were too young to remember.
With the collaborative efforts of poet Norma E. Cantu, I am currently working on a suite of 8 prints about the train yards. Dr. Cantu's poetry is woven throughout my imagery as one, depicting the Mexican experience through those who worked there, performed there (Carpas), and lived there. I am happy to have the opportunity to create this suite of eight prints at Coronado Studios, here in Austin, Texas. I hope that all will continue to follow my visual journey.
-Marta Sanchez