Mayte Martínez '10

Journey de El Rosario to Los Angeles

Reprinted by permission of Mayte Martínez © Mayte Martínez

Mayte Esmeralda Martinez was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. She is a senior history major and studio art minor with a concentration in Asian studies. Coming to Holy Cross has made her appreciate and understand her Salvadorean and Los Angeles background at a whole new level. At Holy Cross, Martinez met people who taught and inspired her to pursue art, such people include friends John Vo and professors in the the Visual Arts department. Though she draws inspiration from her Salvadorean heritage, she is also interested in the fusion within herself of the Asian culture with that of her Latino self. Evident in her work, Martinez seeks to define universal themes which outline her curiosity, longing and displacement-the result of living in Los Angeles and studying in the Northeast-while at same time illustrating them in a universal way for each viewer to relate to it personally.