The Lover, 2020, oil pastels on 19 x 25 paper

We Need One Another

Like a tree in the forest, you were born to be a unique, individual expression and a member of a collective at the same time - creating something larger and more meaningful than the sum of its parts. 

I believe meaning and connection is available to all of us. It can be experienced when we allow ourselves to express ourselves, without apology or self-judgement.
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Through art and community, I create opportunities to explore the deeper meaning of spirituality, identity, and belonging. When we nurture the seeds of creative expression together, we create a regenerative, cultural eco-system that allows us, you, me and the Universe, to thrive.

Artwork

Where it all began...

At the age of 12, I had a mystical experience with a tree outside the kitchen window on 90th street and Elmhurst. With that experience, something happened that changed me forever.

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Even now, many years later, I see trees as sacred beings that provide a deep sense of belonging and meaning with a story to tell. ​That experience of awe, wonder, otherworldly and connectedness with Spirit, is at the center of my art practice. Every time I sit to draw, I enter circular time-space and surrender to its alchemical power.

My curious and sensitive nature led me to diverse career paths, from an Emmy award television producer, to a cultural arts entrepreneur, an event professional, a philanthropy executive, a published creative writer and, pastel artist.

I was born in Santa Clara, Cuba. In 1972, when I was seven years old, my family emigrated to the United States as political refugees. We landed in West New York, NJ and later moved to New York City. With the intent of understanding my Cuban roots, after college I moved to Miami where I spent thirty years immersed in the Cuban diaspora. In 2017, I returned to the Big Apple for an executive post in higher education. Then, after a year of deep meditation and reflection, in 2020 I took the big leap of leaving an executive career to dedicate myself full-time to my art.

In addition to my art practice, I love writing. My poetry and short stories have been published in journals such as Newtown Literary, The Journal of Latina Feminist Criticism, From Whispers to Roars, to name a few. I hold an MA in Liberal Arts from Florida International University and a BA in Latin American Literature and Communications from the University of Pennsylvania. I live in Shelter Island, New York where I take many long, meditative walks amongst my teachers, the trees.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my site.

Best,

Ana

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Ana Martinez Orizondo - AMO
​Artist Statement

I am a Latinx pastel artist and writer living in Shelter Island, NY.​ I also work in photography and, as an Emmy-award television producer, experiment with video shorts.

​My art practice starts by being present during meditative walks in nature. There, in commune with the non-human physical and psychical time-space, my senses become hyper-aware. My spirit attunes to specific forms and the stories they have to tell. I am fascinated by mystical liminal states of in-betweenness, portals to otherness, transient time-space and amorphous forms.

My tree stories series explores themes of ecology and spirituality, belonging and meaning. Particularly, my works reference tree trunks as bodies and bark as cosmic memory. These abstract visual stories reference animism and the mystical power of trees and everything around them.  Whether a stone, stick, fungi, leaves, clouds or grass, its complete composition makes up a sacred space of transcendence and transformation. 

The textural play between soft and hard pastels on recycled shizen paper, made 100% from post consumer waste, not trees, adds to the push and pull of my creative process, and its alchemical power.
 
It is my hope that, through my art, I bring awareness to the climate crisis and awaken a sense of intimacy with our living planet. My artwork (echoing the writings of deep ecologists, cultural historian Thomas Berry, indigenous voices and spirit seekers) calls the viewer to see trees and all non-human forms as communal subjects, not objects to be exploited, as sacred and necessary for the health of our planet and spirit.

Contact

Photo credit: Lorin Klaris

CREATIVE CV*

EDUCATION
2006 MA in Liberal Arts from Florida International University
1996 BA in Latin American Literature and Communications from the University of Pennsylvania

Additional:
2021 Fall - Orion's Environmental Writer's Workshop with Francisco Cantu, Orion Magazine
2021 Fall - Universe Story & Earth Community: The Cosmology of Thomas Berry, CIIS
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EXHIBITIONS:
2022 Thinking in Systems, "What's Next for Earth Project," Millennium Alliance for Humanity and Biosphere, Stanford University Arts
2021 ARTSI Group Show, Dirt Beauty Gallery, Shelter Island, NY
2021 Collapse Online Exhibition, "What's Next for Earth Project," Stanford University Arts 
2021 The Autumn Exhibition, The Curator's Salon online exhibit 
2021 Inner Power, Art Queens, online exhibit
2021 When Words Fail, Visionary Art Collective, online exhibit curated by Grace Langl
2021 Reverie, The Purposeful Mayonnaise, online exhibit
2021 Mujeres, Mujeres, Mujeres, Raices Taller 222, online exhibit
2021 Artists of Shelter Island, Shelter Island Island Historical Society, Shelter Island, N.Y.
2020 Vernissage XIX, group show, Gallery Rivaa, Roosevelt Island, N.Y.
2019 Unexpected, group show, Gallery Rivaa, Roosevelt Island, N.Y. 
2019 Time, group show, Gallery Rivaa, Roosevelt Island, N.Y.
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​PUBLICATIONS/Visual Art:
2021 Orion Magazine
2021 Plantain Bark I, nominated in the visual category for the Best of the Net Anthology by Hopper Magazine
2021 EcoTheo Review Autumn 2021
2021 The Hopper magazine Issue 6
2021 Artist Talk Magazine Issue 15
2021 "Ana Martinez finds deep beauty in island life," Around Town, Shelter Island Reporter, Feb 18, 2021, 

WRITING
Poetry:
Earth-Root, Newtown Literary, Issue 15 Winter 2019
La Nada, The Journal of Latina Critical Feminism, Volume 2 Issue 1 March 2019
I am Transparent, From Whispers to Roars Volume 1 Issue 2 2018
Convergence III, Honorable Mention Haiku Contest, Dreamers Creative Writing Magazine,
Issue 1 2018
Sand-painting Silence, Confluence: The Journal of Graduate Liberal Studies, 2007

Short Story:
Apparition on Elmhurst, Newtown Literary, Issue 13 Fall 2018

PHOTOGRAPHY
Stepping Stones, From Whispers to Roars Volume 1 Issue 2 2018
NYC Skyline, Honorable Mention, Fusion Art Juried Show 2018
First Place: Best in Architecture, @VisitTaos @Travel New Mexico Instagram contest/ June 2018

COMMUNITY BUILDING & COACHING
2021 Badass Art Queens panelist, online talk, Art Queens
Spring 2021 Dream Retreat,  thirteen weekly online session for clients who want guidance, clarity and accountability in regards to their dreams and goals.  
One on One coaching - Context, clarity and strategy. 

MEMBERSHIP: 
​Ecoartspace 
Latinx Art Collective
Artists of Shelter Island: ARTSI
​Southhampton Arts Guild

*Prior to my full-time art career, I was Vice President, Institutional Advancement at Hostos Community College, CUNY and am an Emmy award winning television producer.