Artist Statement & Biography
Artist Statement:
As an artist and educator, I seek to glorify God by pursuing Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, within my work. I embrace the creativity that the Lord has blessed me with and give it back to him as a sacrificial offering. For me, artmaking is a form of prayer, where I can communicate with God while meditating on the sacred mysteries of my Catholic faith. I work in a variety of media and styles, including Byzantine-inspired iconography (egg tempera and gold leaf), Renaissance-inspired oil paintings, block printing, and landscapes. However, all of these artistic approaches are created in the same spirit, as prayerful meditations that give praise to God. I hope to create a profound beauty in my work that captivates the viewer and helps bring them into a closer relationship with our Lord.
"Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence. It is an invitation to savour life and to dream of the future." - St. Pope John Paul II, Letter to Artists, 1999
Artist Biography:
Angelo Ray Martínez (b. 1981 in Boulder, CO) received a B.F.A. in Painting from the University of Colorado Denver in 2010 and an M.F.A. in Painting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2016. He has exhibited in numerous museums and galleries, both nationally and internationally, including the Krannert Museum in Champaign, IL, the Akron Museum in Akron, OH, the South Bend Museum of Art in South Bend, IN, and the Currier Museum in Manchester, NH. He lives in South Bend, IN, with his wife/fellow artist, Melonie Mulkey, where he is an Associate Professor and Program Director of Visual Arts at Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN.