Artist Statement

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​The artwork I create is reminiscent of my most cherished memories of the past. I do this by exploring the ways materials, forms, shapes, lights, and color interact with each other and build upon one another in a abstract way. Once completed, I imagine the work to be a living organism taking on a life of its own and being open to the viewer’s interpretation.
 
My creative process involves making several groupings of multiple art pieces that relate to one another, yet are different like siblings. These individual pieces are then morphed together to create a larger structural form in a space. When doing this, the artwork multiplies into various shapes, colors, and textures, creating a kaleidoscope of woven patterns in the completion of the work. This process allows me to fully engage in the different stages of building and to create more in-depth details in the multitude of layers existing throughout the piece.
 
The materials I enjoy using and gravitate towards in my creative practice are largely influenced by my childhood encounters and reflect an aura of brightness and playfulness in their qualities. I am very drawn to this particular age bracket as it’s unlike any other experience one will go through in the different stages of living out life. In viewing my artwork, my hope is for the viewer to be transported to a similar emotional state of child-like creativity and imagination. Why live in a world of societal normalcy and continue to be contained in its parameters when there’s so much yet to be explored in this journey we call life?
 

Biography
​​Zulian Martinez is an installation artist residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She received her BFA in Fiber from Kansas City Art Institute and her MFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, Oregon. Ms. Martinez also studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Her work is featured in a room exhibit at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has also shown her work at Halls Kansas City and the Vulpes Bastille Fine Art Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri. In addition, Ms. Martinez has exhibited with accomplished artists like Paul Sierra, Marcos Raya, and Eladio Gonzalez and her work has been auctioned off at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Art and Culture in Chicago, Illinois. She has exhibited as a featured artist in the Johnson Art Center at the Forman School in Litchfield, Connecticut. Her work has also been shown in Chicago at the Mars Gallery, the Flat Iron Building, and the Milwaukee Avenue group exhibition titled “Symbols, Myths and Metaphors." Her work has been printed in a catalog and poster for the Milwaukee Art Exhibition and in the Chicago Sun Times. 

Resume 

Education 
  • Oregon College of Art and Craft (MFA), Portland, Oregon​
  • Kansas City Art Institute (BFA), Kansas City, Missouri
  • Forman School (High School Diploma), Litchfield, Connecticut
  • School of the Art Institute of Chicago - Painting and Figure drawing Courses, Chicago, Illinois​
  • Northwestern University - Center for Talent Development for Gifted Students, Chicago, Illinois

​Work Experience
Artist Working on Collaborative Art Project, Meow Wolf, Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
  • Did 190 weavings to fill the ceiling and parts of the walls in a room to help create an interactive space.
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Artist in Residence, Crossroads Academy, Kansas City, Missouri
  • Initiated and oversaw a volunteer collaborative art project with a class of seventh graders at the Crossroads Academy in downtown Kansas City for two months. The collaborative art project dealt with the concept of beauty in the world. They each did a drawing of what they considered to be beautiful in their world and turned that drawing into a collage piece that was then put together on the wall to create one large collage. This project was a broad topic for the students and allowed them to focus on a single concept through the different stages of creating a piece of work.

Art Instructor, Oscar Martinez Fine Art Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
  • Worked at an art summer camp with artist Oscar Martinez for three weeks. I taught the children different dyeing techniques on cotton fabric and showed them how to weave, embroider and sew.

​Art Instructor Assistant, Summer Studies Program at Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri
  • Two-month summer job as a teacher’s assistant in the Continuing and Professional Studies Program at KCAI. I helped students with still life drawing, collage, watercolor, clay, sewing, and printmaking. The students I worked with ranged from six to twelve years of age.

Art Internship, Chicago Grammar School, Chicago, Illinois
  • Two-week internship at the Chicago Grammar School in Chicago, Illinois. I worked with an art teacher and helped out with projects that students were working on. While working with them, I showed them how to trace an image, work with clay, build a structure out of boards and paper mâché, paint with acrylic, and sew fabric. I worked with pre-kindergarten students all the way up to eighth grade.

Awards & Recognition
  • 2018 - Received the Outstanding Student Award for Surface Design at Oregon College of Art & Craft from Surface Design Association. Nominated by Professor Emily Endo from OCAC.
  • 2015 - Was recognized for my accomplishments as an artist in the Halls Kansas City online article under "All Events."2013 - Artwork featured in the annual gala brochure at the Kansas City Art Institute.
  • 2011 - Received the Outstanding Art Award at The Forman School graduation.
  • 2010 - 2011- Artwork featured on The Forman School website.
  • 2010 - Art Award Recipient at The Forman School.
  • 2009 - Art Award Recipient at The Forman School.​​
  • 2005 - Artwork featured in the Chicago Sun Times.

Art Exhibitions
  • ​2022 - Installation artist for Meow Wolf, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
  • 2018 - Resolve MFA Thesis show - Oregon College of Art and Craft.
  • 2018 - Work on display in the Drawing and Painting building at Oregon College of Art and Craft.
  • 2018 - Work on display in the Fibers building at Oregon College of Art and Craft.
  • 2017 - Impetus MFA show in the Hoffman Gallery at Oregon College of Art and Craft.
  • 2016 - The Latino Art Show - a group exhibition at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
  • 2016 - Solo exhibition at the 18th Street POD Gallery in the Pilsen Art District in Chicago.
  • 2015 - Artwork displayed at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Art and Culture auction in Chicago. All three pieces were sold.
  • 2015 - The Journey art exhibition - A two-person show with Aneesa Shami at the Vulpes Bastille Gallery in Kansas City.
  • 2015 - Art + Fashion Installation at Halls Kansas City - A group show in Kansas City.
  • 2015 - Oscar Martinez Art Gallery group exhibition in Chicago.
  • 2015 - KCAI Fiber Department exhibition.
  • 2014 - KCAI Fiber Department exhibition.
  • 2014 - Pieced Together exhibition curated by renowned artist Danny Orendorff at the Kansas City Art Institute.
  • 2013 - KCAI Fiber Department exhibition.
  • 2012 - KCAI Fiber Department exhibition.
  • 2011 - KCAI Foundation year exhibition.
  • 2010 - Featured Artist in Johnson Art Center Exhibition at the Forman School.
  • 2009 - Mars Gallery Group Art Exhibition.
  • 2009 - Forman School Group Art Exhibition.​
  • 2000 - Flat Iron Building Group Art Exhibition.