Codice Series: Codice 69
Sandra Martinez 2021
First Edition of 50 Archival Pigment Prints
The original study was painted with gouache and sumi ink on a book page from an 1800s German missionary text gifted by Sandra's father. It was the first book she painted on. He thought it was a valuable antique, she discovered it was not and used it as a journal while caring for him expanding her long relationship to books. When he passed away, loads of books came to Sandra. Engineering manuals, dictionaries, engine design, repair, and encyclopedias. All of which are laden with the power of pre-internet study... And Dad.
"Painting on old book pages frees me from the potential blocks surrounding precious materials. The books themselves are past their prime in the antique market- when they come to me I give them another life. I handle fragile fragments of someone else's work, and trying and shadow boxes, they're laden with paint, dirt, and layers of meaning... They take another bow. Whatever remains readable is a nod to chance, everyone's collaborator" SM
Sandra Martinez symbolist works on paper are intuitive and meditative. Taking inspiration from surrealists, her process begins with loose contour drawings that can be read as abstract, human, plant, and shelter forms.
Just drill washes with a minimal pallet buildup in the work. Some areas are rubbed, erased, cut, collaged, or laden with dirt. The resulting services range from sparse to thick. Sometimes they develop into a weaving design, sometimes not.
Her work on her father's books continues, along with her use of Hogarth monograph pages, Dante's inferno, German periodicals, and whatever else happens to peer as a gift or by chance as in Tyvek, which she paints on for her larger works.
13 x 9.5”
Packed in mylar and foamcore backed
