Wence Martinez

My life at the loom combines the weaving heritage of my birthplace, Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico, with my formal training in Mexico City. I spent my childhood roaming local mountains, shepherding, and developing a love for the natural world. Tonal variations inherent to undyed wool and desert landscapes continue to fascinate me today. While immersed in tribal patterns of my Zapotec culture, I began training as a weaver at age nine with my father and grandfather. Five years later a scholarship allowed me to study weaving in Mexico City under Bertha and Pedro Preux at Taller Nacional de Tapiz. There, I embraced weaving as fine art and learned Gobelins, natural and aniline dyeing techniques. Using traditional looms and Oaxacan hand spun wool, I work to elevate basic materials and ancient processes. My own pattern-driven geometric designs investigate pattern and color beyond Zapotec tradition. When I work with my wife Sandra to translate her Symbolist paintings into weavings, we collaborate to enhance color and compositional detail. One of my greatest joys as a steward of my village’s legacy is mentoring the next generation of weavers in Teotitlán. Through the Legacy Project I am able to give back by collaborating with a team of weavers to expand the Martinez Studio line.

To view Wence’s resume, click here.

While drawing from his cultural heritage and formal training, Wence weaves exclusively on handmade looms from Teotitlán.

His academic foundation in Mexico City included hand dyeing practices and Gobelins weaving techniques. He continues to use them today to achieve complex and subtle color gradations in painterly ways.

Wence travels into a neighboring Oaxacan mountain village to purchase hand spun Churro wool directly from the same spinners his family has known for generations.

Wence’s color range incorporates both dyed and undyed wool. His natural dyes include indigo, lichen, pecan, cochineal, pericón, pomegranate and goldenrod, and his use of aniline dyes broadens his palette.