April 2017 Cover Artist: Victoria Martinez

Poetry magazine's April cover is by Victoria Martinez, who came to us by way of our failsafe friend Dana Bassett, development director for ACRE (Artist's Cooperative Residence and Exhibitions). Here is a really wonderful spotlight on Martinez that details her 2012 scholarship from Marwen and ACRE. And below is a bit more, with pictures, from Martinez herself:

Victoria Martinez is a transdisciplinary artist and educator from the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago. Her current work direction incorporates painting, screen-printing, and fiber to establish installations, independently, in collaboration with youth, and professional artists. She is seduced by materials such as vibrant plastic, tablecloths, and hand-painted signs from marketplaces and thrift stores. Without knowledge of their prior histories, she senses adventure in these seemingly ephemeral items, as she asks others to look closer. Her work engages poetic processes, as she responds to existing patterns by layering symbols, and stitching these articles together. Victoria sees her work as skin, full of nostalgia and imagined futures as she places it in often overlooked urban sites.