Ana Martínez Orizondo Artist Interview:

A R T : A N A M A R T Í N E Z O R I Z O N D O

The Lover, 2020, pastels on paper, 50 x 63.5 cm

Ana Martínez Orizondo is a visual artist and writer living in Shelter Island, NY. Ana is fascinated by trees, animism and mystical states of in-betweenness. Her tree stories series explores themes of ecology, spirituality and transformation. Specifically, she sees trunks as bodies, and bark as cosmic memory. She is fascinated by liminal states, development in time, portals to otherness, and amorphous forms. Whether acrylic on canvas or soft pastels on cotton rag paper, Ana dwells in the push and pull of the creative process and its alchemical power.

Born in Cuba, raised in New York City with a stop in Miami, Ana returned to the Big Apple in 2017 for an executive position in higher education. After two successful careers as an Emmy award-winning television producer and a non-profit executive, in 2020 she took the big leap of leaving her post to dedicate herself full-time to her art practice. She has exhibited in New York, and internationally online. Her work resides in private collections and has been featured in Orion Magazine, Artist Talk Magazine and The Hopper Magazine.

It is her hope that, through her art, she brings awareness to the climate crisis and awaken a sense of intimacy with our living planet. Her artwork calls the viewer to see trees and all non-human forms as beings, as sacred and necessary for the health of our planet and spirit.

She holds an MA in Liberal Arts from Florida International University and a BA in Latin American Literature and Communications from the University of Pennsylvania.

Artist statement:

My work explores themes of spirituality as well as identity and culture through landscape, nature and portraiture. I am fascinated by mystical liminal states of inbetweenness, portals to otherness, and amorphous forms. My art practice is the center of my being in the world, it gives me a sense of oneness with the Universe, of belonging and expansion.

Portraiture work is an intimate process that begins with a photo session. I'm most interested in hands and the wordless stories of resilience, time, and transformation they tell. They are deeply rooted in the illusiveness of identity, form and culture. They point toward the abstraction of being, divine energy, and our shadow selves.

Website: www.anamartinezorizondo.com Instagram @amoexpression.