Object Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
Melba Martinez |
Title |
Infant's Rose |
Date |
2007 |
Medium |
Serigraph |
Dimensions |
H-16 W-22 inches |
Dimensions |
16"x22" |
Description |
Born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, artist Melba Martinez's first passion was film and theater; as a professional producer, director, and actress, she describes that the stage was her first canvas. However, as an artist, she is most widely recognized for her paintings of roses and has painted over 400 rose canvases to date since she started painting three years ago. In her print Infant's Rose, Martinez attempts to capture the possibilities and hope that exist for an infant once it is born into the world. "The rose is conceptualized as a fish in an ocean of potential," she says. Even the composition and colors of the piece, although seemingly simple and direct, contain remnants of past layering or conditioning. For Martinez, art is something than can ultimately construct identity in the world and transform people's sense of perception. As to why she chooses to paint only roses, she says, "painting roses feels like I am investigating "the eternal." Also, roses are each different from on another, and I like what Da Vinci said when he articulated that the rose, the milky way, and the sea shell fascinate humans because of their capacity to contain and demonstrate implicate order." Martinez art has been showcased at the Walker Gallery, various festivals, boutiques, and "Melba's Rose Garden," where she sells her work. Martinez received a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Theatre, Film, and Performance Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997. |
Object Name |
Print, Screen |
Search Terms |
Roses Flowers Childhood Hope Perception Identity |
Object Number |
2007.1.9 |
Collection |
Serie Project XIV |