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by Raeona Jordan
Door County Magazine, Fall 1998
Separated by countries, cultures and several thousand miles, Sandra
Hackbarth and Wenceslao Martinez could scarcely have been expected
to meet, let alone fall in love, marry and forge and artistic partnership
that has enriched their individual work the Door County arts community.
But, amid circumstances that a scripter of schmaltz would shrug
off as too far-fetched, that's exactly what happened.
Just how this couple - Sandra, developing her evocative ethnographic
imagery in oft-times snowy Wisconsin, and Wence (pronounced with
a soft 'c'), an extraordinarily talented Zapotec Indian weaver form
a high desert village in Mexico - get together?
A romance of such change calls for a cupid. In this case, that role was unwittingly
played by local entrepreneur Kathy Navis, owner of Imported, an
Egg Harbor shop that carries Sandra's art.
When Sandra expressed a desire to see one of her designs translated
into tapestry, Kathy volunteered to scout out a weaver on her next
buying trip to Teotitlan del Valle, the Oaxacan village renowned
for its weavers.
"It was a difficult piece, not traditional by any means,"
Sandra explains of the photo go her painting that Kathy carried
to Mexico. "But Wence thrives on difficulty," she adds. "He'd been
working on a design that was so complicated, only advancing about
a half inch a week, that when he saw my work he thought, 'Oh, this
is a break! Something different!" And so he made it."
Sandra was ecstatic over the workmanship when she received the
finished tapestry."It was an exact duplication of my hand-drawn
line I was so amazed by the technical ability; I wanted to meet
the person who'd made it."
She accompanied Kathy on the next trop to Oaxaca and arrived at
Wence's doorstep with the notion for a collaboration, a series of
tapestries based on a dozen new drawings.
"I was so wound up and excited to meet this artist," she recalls,
a soft smile crossing her face, "and I spoke no Spanish whatsoever.
So I'm saying, though Kathy, 'If this is too complicated, there's
lots of spiral and weird angles I know it'll be hard to weave; we
can change things. I can change things so it won't be so difficult."
"And I'll never forget, Wence just very calmly saying, 'No, no,
it's OK. Don't change anything. If you can draw it, I can weave
it.' I remember thinking, 'Oh, this is going to be so great!"
That early warning smile, growing as she told the story, now is a full-wattage beam.
Clearly this was more than a meeting of two artistically kindred
souls. The realization that love was in the air came to soft-spoken
Wence on "the first day."
Sandra picked up the story's thread. "There was no denying it;
it was just like, 'Where have you been - I've been waiting.' It
was just instant recognition."
It was also very complicated."When you fall in love with somebody
from another county, the paperwork is pretty intense," says Sandra.
Along with reams of immigration and citizenship red tape - snarled
further by the eventually effort to bring Wence's two boys, Claudio
and Ale, to the U.S. - there were years of a bicultural relationship,
with Wence journeying to Door County for summers and Sandra spending
winters in Mexico.
In 1995, however, with the whole family well-settled here and
the boys attending Sevastopol School, Wence and Sandra opened Martinez
Studios, next to the Fieldstone Gallery on Logerquist Road, just
north of the State Hwy. 57 in Bailey's Harbor. Situated behind their
home, the rustic barn-cum-gallery is a perfect showcase for the
couple's work.
Inside, skeins of wool hang from the rafters, a subdued rainbow
of nature-tinged hues. All the wool Wence uses is hand-spun in Mexico
and hand-dyed in the Martinez back yard using mostly vegetal dyes
from natural sources such as lichen, nuts, berries and cochineal,
a cactus-dwelling insect that yields a rich red color.
At one of of the room site a massive, 8-feet Spanish treadles
loom, one of four in the household, all built in Wence's home village.
Gallery visitors are likely to find Wence here, with a dozen or
more bobbins in deft play across a work in progress.
Wence's tapestries lend a glow to the weathered barn walls, all
executed with the sure hand of a master, the tapestries illustrate
the continuing Martinez collaboration. All are original, depicting
either Sandra's imaginative designs or patterns created by Wence
that reflect his take on traditional Zapotec or North American Indian
influences, or involve intricate Turkish or Persian motifs.
Adjacent to the tapestry-filled barn, in a slope-roofed former
chicken coop, Sandra's work is displayed. A variety of objects,
including boxes, journals, pillows and hand-sewn on-of-a-kind scarves
and shawls lovely enough to serve as jewelry, are block-printed
with her hand-carved designs.
A shorthand description might call these designs primitive or
almost petroglyph-like images. Sandra agrees, sort of, with the
primitive but prefer the word ":ethnographic" because it better
convey the influence of "many different ethnic groups, many different
cultures, and the universal symbols you see throughout those cultures,
but", she adds "I don't like explaining it too much; I like making
it." Where Sandra is hard-put to define the origin of her work, Wence's
culture is an ancient one, his roots and heritage are inescapable.
Weaving is a traditional art of the Zapotecs and Wence, whose works
has been exhibited internationally, has devoted his life to it.
"I learned from my dad and my granddad," he says. "You start out
at 5 or 6 years old, helping clean the wool, carding, spinning;
so you learn from the beginning. By 9 years old I was starting to
weave." His talent was quickly noted. Mentored by fellow Oaxacan Edmundo
Aquino, an internationally-known printmaker and painter, Wence received
a scholarship to Mexico City's National Institute of Tapestry when
he was just 13.
But there is scant opportunity for a weaver to develop his reputation
as an artist when he is part of a village ethic that is bout livelihood,
not art, where completing X number of rugs a week means groceries
on the table.
"I felt I can do something different from other people; that was
my strength." he says. Still. "It was difficult. I wanted to do
my own, full time, but I had to work with other designers as well.
Even when you know you the the talent and the skills, the middlemen
(buyers for shops in the American Southwest and elsewhere) don't
let you put it out there."
Relocating to the United States changed that, as did the decision
to settle in Door County.
"THere is such a highly-educated art market here," Sandra poiunts
out. "After having the gallery for four years, we're getting more
customers who understand the difference in our quality level and
the level of design."
The studio offers a range of completed works for sale, but commissions
for custom work also are growing; Martinez work enhances floor and
walls in homes across the country.
"Increasingly, people are understanding the creative aspect,"
says Sandra of commissioned work. "They don't have something specific
in mind, they just say. 'Make me a beautiful piece." Whenever that
happens, you can just see the lights go on in Wence, and you just
know it's going to be something special, from his heart."
Wence and Sandra encourage the children's appreciation of their
heritage. Now 12 and 14, the boys speak Zapotec (an unwritten, oral
language) at home with their father, and , like him are learning
to weave at an early age. They've already sold some small pieces
in the gallery. Upstairs in the Martinez house, a visitor comes
across a project by the eldest son, Claudio. On a 3 1/2 foot loom
is the start of the young man's first large piece. Looking on, from
a poster on the wall, is basketball legend Michael Jordan.
Autumn is a bus6 time at the Martinez Gallery, which is open through
October, and after that by appointment."During a heat wave it's
not so great to be thinking about wool," says Sandra, "but later
in the year are the best months for us; people star tot think about
their homes again, about being cozy.'
And mid-September marks what's comes to ben an annual highlight
- a giant lawn party for family, friends and clients ( a list that
now numbers 700). Hay bales provide tables and seating, and delicious
aromas fill the air The scent of zesty Zapotecan salsa and Wence'
mother;s special pork intertwine win the summer's waning golden
light the sound of laughter and fellowship.
Just like a fine tapestry. Perhaps a lot like the very specialist
tapestry, now hanging in the the house, that spanned a continent
and brought two people together. |
