NAME: Martine Gutierrez
AGE: 28
ISLAND: Guatemala
CRAFT: Multimedia Artist / Video, Sound, Photography
HOW HAS YOUR BACKGROUND AFFECTED YOUR LIFE/ WORK?
My background has displaced and exoticized me; but as minorities who are also put at the periphery of our own communities I believe we grow up with a stronger, self reflective focus. I don't think I would still be questioning my own identity if I easily fit into a box. An individual questions the archetypes they assume and carry out in the world, the majority doesn't, they are a mass of bigotry and consumer assimilation.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU (UPCOMING PROJECTS)?
I'm working on a body of work that imitates a fashion magazine publication, subverting the mechanisms of advertising language and consumerism to open a dialogue about cultural identity and gender roles, but more specifically my own gender expression and heritage, as an individual who is transitioning and biracial. I have a long history of being mis-gendered or assumed as another ethnicity -- the magazine is giving me a platform to reclaim my heritage, marrying indigenous Mayan culture with my American and non-binary journey.
Photo by: José Manuel Girona