ARTIST V. KIM MARTINEZ EXPLORES PHYSICAL AND MENTAL BORDERS AT FINCH LANE GALLERY
Salt
Lake City—V. Kim Martinez’s Matthew Allred’s work is paired with two
other exhibitions at the Finch Lane Gallery that explore the themes of
boundaries, time, and choices. The exhibitions run October 4 through
November 15, with an artists’ reception on Friday, October 4 from 6:00
to 8:30 p.m.
V. Kim Martinez’s multi-disciplinary installation, 7 Steps Forward 7 Steps Back,
is based on her experiences traveling routes used by Mexican/Native
American migrants for thousands of years along the now United States and
Mexican borders. She will discuss her work on the “Day of the Dead”
Friday, November 1 at 7 p.m.
Martinez’s Exhibition, 7 Steps Forward 7 Steps Back, includes
paintings, drawings and an animated five-minute video, in response to
what she witnessed while traversing the southwestern border. Her
motivation in developing this series was to increase understanding of
political and social discourse of the region. The images are not
literal but rather intellectual concepts and metaphors.
Traveling
within the margins of this rigid yet fluid space allowed her to
perceive the border in myriad ways. “Movement becomes a metaphor for
communication--the transfer of meaning from one place to another,
isolating pieces of information, repeating, changing scale, and reducing
color is my attempt to reveal hidden structures and motivations of
migration,” Martinez said.
When
a person dies, some indigenous peoples of North America practice a
ritual called “7 Steps Forward 7 Steps Back.” For seven days, four
times a day, survivors pay homage to the deceased by visiting and
marking their burial site with seven lines. They then walk forward
seven steps to the site and, when leaving, walk backward seven steps.
This practice assures that the dead will have safe entry into the
afterlife.
Martinez
has exhibited in the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing,
China; at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Valdivia, Chile; the SPARC Gallery in Venice California; the Noyes Cultural Art Center, Chicago, Illinois;
and at the Al-Kahf Gallery in Bethlehem, Palestine. She is a faculty
member of the University of Utah Department of Art and Art History.
Who: V. Kim Martinez
What: Finch Lane and Park Gallery Exhibitions
When: October 4 through November 15, 2013
Where: Art Barn, 54 Finch Lane in Reservoir Park
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