Born: 1989, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Martín Gutierrez (deadname)
The following is republished from the National Gallery of Art (US). This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Martine Gutierrez’s works often imitate mass media, from billboards to music videos. In the case of Indigenous Woman, she created a 124-page magazine featuring everything from fake advertisements to full fashion spreads.
Gutierrez made every element. She was her own model, photographer, stylist, makeup artist, writer, and graphic designer. Gutierrez, whose father is from Guatemala, dedicated the project to “the celebration of Mayan Indian heritage, the navigation of contemporary indigeneity and the ever-evolving self-image.” Like much of her other work, Indigenous Woman challenges typical notions of beauty and identity.
The magazine includes portraits of deities, which Gutierrez made into a series of standalone prints with hand-painted frames. Many of the deities blend male and female characteristics. Gutierrez, who is a nonbinary trans woman, uses these images to challenge the rigid gender binary.
Demons, Yemaya “Goddess of the Living Ocean” shows Gutierrez as Yemaya, the orisha (deity) of motherhood and the sea in the Afro-Caribbean Santería religion and African Yoruba religion.