“Sandra and Wence Martinez have joined together to produce some of the most exciting and inventive woven textiles being created today”
— Carol Sauvion
Craft in America
Since opening in 1994
Martinez Studio has been home to the creative designs and intricate tapestries of Sandra Jo and Wenceslao Martinez. Art enthusiasts and collectors are warmly invited to witness their collaborative process and discover the cultural legacy reflected in their work. Now in two locations: Jacksonport, Door County, WI, and Canyon Road in Santa Fe, NM.
—Then and now—
After studying with David Damkoehler at UW-Green Bay, Sandra Jo Martinez (b.1959) met Wenceslao Martinez (b.1959) in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he began weaving at age nine. Creative partners since 1988, each artist also has their own practice. Sandra Jo paints and creates designs that are woven by her husband, whose Zapotec heritage and the rigorous training he received in Mexico City during a revolutionary era in fiber design are critical to both his and their success. Wenceslao uses hand-spun Churro wool, which he hand dyes, to weave Sandra Jo’s visions alongside his own pattern driven geometric designs in rich colors.
The couple’s collaboration is characterized by constant exchange that is both aesthetic and process-oriented, and results in work that emerges from an initial inspiration, but requires the technical prowess of both individuals. In 1994, the two artists opened Martinez Studio in Jacksonport, in Door County Wisconsin. Their Neo-abstract art is now part of the collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and the Museum of Wisconsin Art. Their collaborative work has been recognized with a prestigious United States Artist Fellowship in 2018, and inclusion of their collaborative weavings in major museum exhibitions.
—Annemarie Sawkins
—Thomas D. Lidtke & Annemarie Sawkins