Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins:
Phoenix-based artist Monica Aissa Martinez is fascinated by the intricacies of the human body. Her current project, “Nothing in Stasis,” comprises a series of large-scale paintings of family and friends that explore the confluence of body, mind and spirit.
If you happen to be in Arizona, the Tucson Museum of Art is hosting an eponymous exhibit through April 23, 2023. But not to worry: you can also view the “Nothing in Stasis” collection on her website (monicaaissamartinez.com).
At first glance, the paintings vaguely evoke those life-sized anatomical posters from high school biology class with the various systems–digestive, nervous, reproductive—mapped out. But there the resemblance stops.
READ THE WHOLE PIECE HERE.
Wow! Now you make me want to visit Tucson as well as LA.
Seriously, if I had seen these works without your essay, I would have nodded and moved on. But you looked at them carefully, and then described their depth and intimacy. Thank you.
Thanks, Betsy–you can see the works on her website…though you could always visit Tucson, too!