In one of artist Rachel Martin’s earliest memories, her mother asked her to draw the face of a bug. “I was about three years old, and I remember her saying to me, ‘Show me how it feels to look at it,’ rather than how it looks, and I think that’s how I make art now,” Martin recently told ARTnews. Rising Indigenous Artist Rachel Martin Explores Identity and Sovereignty Through Playful Art
The rising Tlingít artist, an enrolled member of the Tsaagweideí, Killer Whale Clan, of the Yellow Cedar House (X̱aai Hit´) Eagle Moiety, creates works in sculpture and drawing that evoke delight and curiosity, sparking deep thinking about Indigenous sovereignty, identity, and feminism. Her often amusing pieces meld historical symbolism with modern motifs, honoring her Tlingít heritage while reflecting her experiences as an Indigenous woman in Queens, New York.
In her 2024 work, Culture Bear(er) Flex, Martin draws a figure in formline—a traditional style of Northwest Coast Indigenous art—with stylish long pink nails grasping a strand of braided rose-colored seal guts, a Tlingít delicacy. Other works, like Bubbleyum Babybreath (2023), featuring figures blowing bubblegum, or the 2023 portrait Hú áwé awsikóo (that one knows), similarly use pink as their main palette. This is no mere nod to Western femininity; Martin notes, “Pink is a huge part of our culture, and I love when people realize the pink in my work is actually a reference to guts and blood.”
Martin’s tender drawings have received increased attention for addressing subjects like gender equality, colonialism, food sovereignty, and self-determination in profound yet lighthearted ways. In 2021, she was an artist-in-residence at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, and since 2022, she has been an artist-in-residence and co-curator of the Gochman Family Collection. Her commissioned mural, The Gochman Family Chalk Drawings (2022), is a centerpiece in the family’s Upper East Side apartment.
This year, Martin has two solo shows: one in September at Hannah Traore Gallery in New York, presenting larger works, and the recently closed “Believe the Rumors” at Nina Johnson Gallery in Miami. The latter exhibition featured works on paper honoring the oral traditions of Indigenous women who use whispers and gossip to communicate and protect themselves.
Despite spending most of her 20s making art as a pastime and quitting a BFA program at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, Martin reconnected with her Tlingít heritage in her early 30s, incorporating it into her work. She began learning the Tlingít language and exploring her identity, which brought her artistic journey full circle.
Curator Caitlin Chaisson highlights Martin’s innovative use of formline. “Formline artwork is often held to high expectations of precision, but Martin embraces its imperfections, demonstrating how flaws contribute to the tradition’s dialogue.”
Martin views herself as a channel for her ancestors’ messages. “These images present themselves to me. These are my ancestors speaking to me. When I’m working, I usually don’t know what the work is trying to say, and then it completely makes sense, and I understand that it needs to go into the world because it’s a story that’s important,” she said.
Her use of humor makes important conversations about Indigenous culture more accessible. Pieces like BEEN READY (2023) introduce playfulness by collaging a traditional Tlingít mask onto a drawing of a body in thigh-high socks, adding a stuck-out tongue to bring trickster energy. “Using humor is a way of humanizing Indigenous work—we’re hilarious,” Martin said. “We love bringing everybody together through laughter, which in our language also means ‘sharing breath’—creating bonding moments.”
By challenging stereotypes and pushing boundaries, Martin hopes to inspire a new generation of Northwest Coast female artists. “I ignored my work for a long time, and I don’t want the younger generation of women to do that. If you are seeing this work, if you’re feeling this work, then follow it,” she advised.
For Martin, listening to her heritage is an ongoing practice. “I’ve matured enough to listen, and now I know it’s important to pass down these stories and not simply hold on to them. I’m celebrating my relationship with the spirit world, and there’s joy there, but there’s also work to be done.”
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Source: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/rachel-martin-artist-porfile-1234706901/
