Artist FlashCard: Luis Martin’s Waking Dreams

“Stepping back from my finished canvases is like looking into a magnified mirror. Fragments of my identity emerge to create a visual narrative heavy with cultural idiosyncrasies, sexuality and a yearning for opulence and magic” Martin explains.The multi-faceted works’ biggest strength comes in their ability to be read in multiple ways and reflect back on the person doing the looking; the viewer will be able to bring in elements from their own past, own history and feel connected to the work, like a mirror refracting back onto themselves.  Rather than sticking with the tried and true designation of “artist,” while in school at FIT, Martin adopted the label “art engineer,” as a way to maintain a methodical and calculated approach to his work as an artist. “I find that in incorporating a left brain thinking into my process allows me to preserve the shamanistic elements that go into the alchemy of being an artist. I maintain one foot on the ground and the other scaling subconscious slops,” says Martin.  Like looking before leaping, this ability to methodically and logically arrange the surrealistic and less quantifiable aspects of his work results in the appearance of a well-remembered dream. While they still possess an air of mystery, wonder, and even a tinge of the nonsensical, the elements come together seamlessly and intelligently, making you sometimes forget that they aren’t real.​