I dream of creating spaces to foster and reinstate ways of knowing that privilege the body, the sensorial, human contact, intimacy, inter-generational learning, and land-nature connections that nurture our state of consciousness. I am finding these to be radical fields of study and practice to expand current modes of being and relating to the world, each other- and art making.
Over the past five years I have developed embodied ways of learning, of connecting - as traditions that align with perennial and matriarchal wisdom. Approaches to creation and art making that delve into the depths of the mind and spirit to rediscover what matters the most to each and all of us. I find these approaches valuable in the context of art making and art education, but also as potential tools and practices to be reclaimed and restored in the face of crisis and uncertainties that confront us -and especially younger generations- with a profound sense of loss of meaning and purpose. I am excited about sharing these approaches, and creating a space to breathe, touch, feel, and move in new ways… together and alone.
Guadalupe Martinez (Argentina, 1980) is an artist and educator making works that reflect on art, pedagogy, and place with the hope to create spaces of connection, care, discovery, and world making. Interested in the capacity for creative processes to generate forms of wisdom, she uses embodied creation as means to explore individual and collective connection and healing.
Her ongoing project CUERPO collective-body is a fluid group of emerging artists and mentors sharing knowledge, movement, and touch. A practice where embodied learning transforms conventional approaches to art production and education. A holistic process of liberating the body and the self, to occupy the often-disembodied spaces of academia and art institutions; allowing for a more expansive space to integrate and share knowledge. A search for a praxis where intimacy, embodiment and care may intersect through creative process. She is currently working on an artist book focusing on breath, touch, feeling, and dancing for collective healing, and a solo show focusing on intersections of performance, education, and collaboration. Martinez holds a BFA from the National University of Arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a MFA from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada where she has been a Sessional Lecturer in Performance Art, Actions, and Approaches since 2017. Her work has been shown extensively in Argentina, US, Italy, Mexico and Canada at The Vancouver Art Gallery, SFU Art Gallery, Or Gallery, Access Gallery, VIVO Media Arts Centre, Griffin Art Projects, Latitude 53, Grunt Gallery, VIVA! Art Action, LIVE! Biennale, Open Space Victoria, CIA (Centro de Investigaciones Artisticas), Palais de Glace, Museo del Grabado, Centro Cultural San Martin, Centro Cultural Borges, and Infr’Action Venezia among others. Martinez holds a certification with honours in Ontological Coaching from Newfield Consulting in Chile, and Natalie Roger's Level 1 Creative Arts Therapy program in Argentina. She has attended multiple specialized trainings, workshops, and retreats around the world ranging from Eckhart Tolle's School of Awakening, Presence through Movement and Somatic Mentorships, to Marina Abramovic and Pocha Nostra Performance Art Intensives. |