When you look at Kat Martinez’s (BFA ’21) still life paintings she wants you to see beauty, but then when you look closer she wants you to realize all is not what it seems.

“I wanted to really draw from those, Dutch vanitas [still-life paintings] where they look very staged but then when you look closer it looks a little off-putting and then you see a dead fly or something,” said the third-year painting student.

The idea of things not always being what they initially appear to be resonates with Martinez. As a first-generation Cuban-American she has a complicated relationship with the island, and expresses it through her art.

“I’ve always had people say, ‘Oh, I love that place, I go there for vacation’ or ‘I went there for my honeymoon’,” she said. “That's great but people always tell me it’s so beautiful and there was so much food but that's only what they want you to see and that's what my still life is about.”

The still life she’s currently working on features a bird of paradise, Cuba’s national flower. She says while the flower may be called paradise, it’s not what Cuba is for most people.

My grandma came to the US in a little boat. It’s 90 miles. She was with three other families and she doesn't understand how she made it,” Martinez said. “You have to be very desperate to just hop on a boat and go so I’ve always respected her and my mom for that and my grandfather as well.”

The experiences of her family have always been threaded through her work.

Before coming to PAFA, Martinez attended the New World School of the Arts in Miami. At the arts high school Martinez said the work she made was very visceral, focusing more on concept than technique.

“That whole saying of ‘blood is thicker than water,’ I thought that was very interesting so I did a lot of paintings exploring that concept and saying,” she said. “What connects two individuals is very beautiful so I did a lot of work about my family.”

After meeting PAFA MFA Chair Didier William, Martinez knew she wanted a fine arts education to shore her technique. She was then awarded a full-tuition Maguire scholarship to PAFA.

The Maguire scholarship is made possible through the generosity of the Maguire Foundation and its commitment to excellence in art education. Prospective students are measured on the strength of their portfolio. Students with the strongest portfolios are nominated for the Maguire Artistic Excellence Scholarship. Nominees then complete a Challenge Portfolio and scholarships are awarded, based on the artworks submitted.

“I really wanted to focus on really conquering structure and form and space because that's what I felt like my work lacked. The concept was heavier than the technique and I wanted the technique to stand on its own,” she said. Right now my work is very academic though I want to see how I can still incorporate my old concepts into academic work.”

After graduating Martinez hopes to further explore her Cuban roots, maybe even travel with her grandmother.

“I want to go back to Cuba for a while and maybe make work there because I feel like that’d be very inspiring and even parts of Africa and Spain because that's what Cuba is,” Martinez said. “It’s made up of those elements, the Yoruba people in Africa and Spain. I want to see how those environments all coincide.”

Previous trips to Cuba have been emotional, they’re a reminder of everything her family risked to come to the United States and the struggle family members still on the island go through.

But she is thankful for the opportunity the previous generation has given her.

“That's always on the back of my mind; ‘What would life have been like if I stayed?’” she said. “It always scares me but then makes me feel extremely grateful for where I am now because my parents weren’t able to get an education, and knowing that I’m here and doing what I want is amazing.”