A.Martinez
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Philosophy
Tulika and I chose Shantrelle P. Lewis’ documentary In Our Mother’s Garden (2021) and Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie’s TED talk, “The Danger of a Single Story” (2014) as our texts to explore how we pass on family memories, traditions, and values through both narrative and non-narrative storytelling (food, home, sound, and ecosystems). We believe that the power of the story lies in the hands of the storyteller and are interested in shifting the narrative of these conversations to emphasize that everyone has valuable knowledge to share, especially those outside the dominant culture. We are interested in the role of mothers and their children as a means of intergenerational wisdom-sharing as well as how legacies can be passed on in other places in our communities.
Bio
A.Martinez (she/her) is a poet, visual artist, mother, and organizer living in Chicago. Her work explores family, rituals, nature, and the body. Alyssa’s social practice involves participatory community gatherings including those for mothers in the arts. She also works as an arts administrator for music performance organizations.
Image description: A.Martinez, a mother with light brown skin and a short curly dark brown afro in a white short sleeved linen dress stands facing to the right in front of a white bed sheet backdrop. Her five year old, Asher, with light brown skin and upper back length curly dark brown hair with no shirt and light gray sweatpants stands behind her back and wraps his arms around her neck, where they hold hands in front of her chest. Their faces touch at the cheekbone. They both have their heads turned to look directly into the camera with pleasant semi-smiling faces, their skin glowing from the late afternoon June sunlight.
Photo by Chelsea Alexandra.
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Threewalls is always finding new ways to share our artist’s unique voices through exhibits, talks, and gatherings. We would like you to be the first to know about these opportunities.