PROMISE OF SWEETNESS By Nadia Martinez
May 14th - June 12th, 2022
Stamford Art Association 39 Franklin Street, Stamford, CT stamfordartassociation.org In Search of Sweetness, 2022, Polaroid and bagasse, 6 x 6 x 1 inches
Artist Statement These trying times have had everyone looking for comfort. In my search, I went deep into my childhood memories, back to "La Sierpe," my grandpa's molienda, his artisanal sugarcane mill and plantation, and found my sweet and happy place—a wonderful space to escape from everything happening around me. In that memory, I found a new meaning for the concept of 'sweetness' that went beyond something that could be experienced with one sense. Remembering my family working together to make from scratch something sweet, I realized that the sweetness that I was looking for was found in community, traditions, and laughter. My project, The Promise of Sweetness, chronicles the growing of sugarcane from seed to plant in an effort to conjure this happiness.
Promise of Sweetness (The Start), 2022, Sugarcane seeds, bagasse paper, digital photography
For many years, Capitalism has promoted a narrative of happiness, sending the message that "money, traveling, possessions, and lifestyle buy happiness." We've been conditioned to believe and embrace these ideas, shaping our understanding of the good and happy life or the 'sweet life' on the idea of wealth and what it can provide. Yet, this belief has been challenged by current events.
In this body of work, I'm questioning the idea of "instant gratification." By revisiting a happy memory, instead of relying on contemporary narratives of happiness and sweetness, I revisit a personal happy memory and ask myself: what made me feel so good and so instantaneously? Using a similar lens of happiness and sweetness, I invite others to do the same.
Promise of Sweetness (The Journey), 2022, 56 Polaroid photographs, 4.233 x 3.483 inches each
In an effort to frame these questions, I used raw materials such as sugar and its derivatives to create ephemeral sculptures and installations that are literally composed of sweetness. Some of the sugary material is fragile, transparent, and colorful to resemble candies; these are designed to echo the experience of fragmented memories and past experiences of happiness. The sugar glass sculptures change and melt over time. And The Promise of Sweetness, because of the ephemeral nature of this work, I'm documenting the process and physical changes that occur in the sugarcane plants with Polaroid pictures. Polaroids have similar characteristics to sugar—they both give instant gratification, can be affected by temperature and humidity, and continue to change. As part of my desire to share the Promise of Sweetness
with others, viewers are invited to take small packages of sugarcane seeds and small pieces of unrefined brown sugar, which is just like the sugar my family used to make. This gift is part of a different economy; in exchange, I ask them to share some of their sweet memories with me.
Untitled (Sweet Memory), 2022, Brown unrefined raw sugar, paper, digital photography
Although I have a personal investment in the theme of sugar, my larger goal for this project and my oeuvre is to explore the connections and relationships we create with each other around objects and through social exchanges. I hope that my work will prompt viewers to consider how larger cultural conditions shape our beliefs and values. In the sugar series, I am creating alternative narratives designed to question the
cultural conditions that make us feel good. In this regard, my work creates a conversation with artists Jill Magid and Félix González-Torres, who, like me, ground their work in generosity. In their practices, Magid and Félix González-Torres each use their personal investment with their subjects and projects to address social issues while also inviting people to participate in their work and potentially think differently about these issues.
Untitled (Never Halfway), 2021, Sugar, rock, frame, PET sheets, 11 x 14 x 2.5 inches
Sweet Traces I, 2022, Monoprints, sugar, Hahnemühle Sugarcane paper and ink, 8 ¾ x 7 inches, 16 x 20 framed
Untitled (Fragmented Memories), 2021, Sugar, rock, acrylic box, 11.5 x 11 x 8 inches
Fragmented Memory (The Impact), 2022, Sugar and food coloring, Variable dimensions
La Sierpe, 2022, Book, 8 x 8 inches. This is a Limited Edition of 30 numbered copies in English only. Each one includes a hand-drawn illustration and is signed by the author.
Nadia Martinez is a Connecticut-based Honduran multimedia artist. Nadia has exhibited her work nationally and internationally in individual and group exhibitions at 4uattro Pareti Galleria, Italy; Stamford Art Association, CT; Zorya Fine Art, CT and Art Basel week, Miami, FL; D'Museo, Venezuela; ArtLima, Peru; Pinta Art Fair, NY; the National Academy Museum, NY; Södertälje Konstforening, Sweden; Museo del Juguete Antiguo, DF, Mexico, among others. Nadia was an artist in residence at the Museum of Arts and Design, NYC. She was nominated for Women to Watch 2018, National Museum of Women in the Arts, DC by Shannon R. Stratton, MAD’s William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator of the Museum of Arts and Design, NY, NY. Her work is part of selected collections such as the Art Bank Program of the US Department of State in Washington DC and other private collections in the United States, France, Peru, and Venezuela. www.nadiamartinez.com
Stamford Art Association Established in 1971 in a circa 1874 historical townhouse, the Stamford Art Association is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization whose members include painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, and multimedia artists. In its 51st year, our mission as an arts organization is to provide a forum where emerging and professional artists can exhibit their work to the community and compete in juried shows. We host an international exhibit yearly, the Faber Birren Color Award Show, and a High School Student Show for Fairfield County students.