Vedma, oil on wood

Arantzazu Martinez is a painter originally from Vitoria, Spain and currently residing in New York. The artist is known for her photo-realistic figurative paintings that play with light, shadow, and texture to create sumptuously deep images.

Hideout, oil on linen

I’m quite amazed by not only the artist’s skill in painting the fine details of an image, but also with her range in subject matter. Martinez’s subjects range from relatively simple portraits to expansive scenes expressing mythological figures in narratives that seem to spring directly from the artist’s mind.

The artist often uses light as a tool in her paintings, creating darkness, drama, and intrigue in images, adding an extra layer of emotional investment for the viewer. Each of her works fills me with a sense of curiosity, of wanting to understand the full narrative behind it. This sense of mystery in realistic painting also reminds me of works by Hannah Yata.

Dracula, oil on linen