a loom, a fence, a wire, a thread
April 25 @ 11:00 am - July 5 @ 4:00 pm
Art & History Museums – Maitland
About the Exhibition
Mär Martinez, a Syrian American artist and Fulbright scholar, presents new work developed during her 2024–25 Fulbright research in Istanbul. Her project investigates traditional Turkish and Middle Eastern textile techniques while reflecting on themes of urbanization, surveillance, and cultural memory. Drawing from nighttime walks through Istanbul’s neighborhoods, Martinez transforms architectural barriers, barbed wire, fences, and centuries old textile patterns, into motifs of both resistance and resilience. Her haunting paintings explore personal heritage, global textile history, and contemporary social commentary in poetic, layered form.
The initial threads of this, her first solo museum exhibition, created in Istanbul and New York, began at the Art & History Museums of Maitland during her 2021–2023 Studio Artist Residency. This exhibition represents both a new artistic departure and an expanded exploration of the themes she began contemplating during her residency.
