Art & Life with Rissa Martinez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rissa Martinez.

Rissa, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I’m a Chicana graphic designer and illustrator. I’m originally from Oxnard, CA. Since I was a kid, I always had an urge to be creative. I used to go to the junkyard down the street from my house and doodle on the walls. When I got into junior high me and my family fell into the rough of it and lost everything we had. When I was in high school, I got pregnant with my daughter. I didn’t have any money and me and my entire family shared a room at my abuelo’s house. Against my family’s advice, I had my daughter, finished high school and went straight to college. I went to Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.

I woke up every morning at 4am and took three busses to get there. I worked part-time as a professor’s assistant to help cover expenses as much as I could. I graduated with Dean’s Listing and got my Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design with a double minor in Illustration and Book Arts. I also interned at Diamond Supply Co. My daughter’s now seven years old. I’m currently working two jobs to try and save up for graduate school. I was just accepted into a teaching credential and Masters of Education program at California Lutheran University. Every day, I strive to make a better life for me and my daughter as best I can.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
The majority of my art stems from my personal experiences as a Punk Mexican-American single mother. My college was predominately filled with middle to upper class white people. It was an entirely new experience. Being the minority was ironically new for me since I had been raised in a largely Latino community. The students there received ample financial and emotional support from their families, allowing them to focus solely on their work. This was a luxury I did not have. When I created content relevant to my culture, I was often told by my instructors to include and allow for my art to be intellectually accessible to white people.

While it angered me, it also fueled my passions further. I pushed forward and created content close to my heart. In my work I tend to pull from nostalgia as well as how music and culture influences the community. My favorite medium is screen printing but I enjoy a multitude of materials and practices such as the adobe suite, sewing, pencil, and watercolor. I love creating tactile things such as apparel. I make things like hand-embroidered patched beanies and screen-printed tiles that work as coasters or kitchen tiles.

Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
People are always going to try and pull you in one direction or the other. This can be family advising you on life choices, professors telling you to focus on elements of your practice that you aren’t passionate about, or even other artists telling you to do what they did. The best advice I can give is to go with your gut and follow your heart. As lame as that sounds. Take in all the experiences that you can. Life is full of inspiration, but it’s also full of daunting limitations. You can’t let those things get in the way of you becoming the artist you want to be.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My work can be seen at rissamartinez.com as well as on Instagram at rissa_martinez_art. If you’re interested in commissions, collaborations, having my work in your gallery, or have any questions at all feel free to e-mail me at rissa116@yahoo.com. Creating is my passion and I’m always looking to work with like-minded individuals.

Contact Info:

• Website: rissamartinez.com
• Email: rissa116@yahoo.com
• Instagram: @rissa_martinez_art

Image Credit:
All art by Rissa Martinez, photo of myself taken by Alaia Orlick

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