Artist Delita Martin poses with her featured work “Moon Child” at the University of Colorado Art Museum on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 (Kaitlyn Riordan/CU Independent)
On Wednesday, April 5, multimedia artist Delita Martin visited the University of Colorado Art Museum to discuss her creative process and how she uses printmaking to emphasize social justice in her community of Huffman, Texas. This event was co-sponsored by the Center for African and African American Studies.
“During the pandemic, the whole country was protesting,” said Martin during the reception. “I found myself and friends printing signs for protests. In a way, we already had a studio setup for printmaking.”
Martin, a Texas native, is the owner of Black Box Press Studio, one of Texas’ largest private printmaking and letterpress studios.
“During the pandemic, Black Box started giving $5,000 grants to artists for exhibition purposes,” Martin said.
At the time, she noticed more artists were posting their work only on the internet, often due to the lack of access to physical galleries. In response, she wanted to help by using her studio as a way to exhibit their work.
Artist Delita Martin talks about Black Box Press Studio at Eaton Humanities on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 (Kaitlyn Riordan/CU Independent)
After the reception, Martin hosted an artist talk in the Eaton Humanities Building for attendees to ask questions. During this talk, she mentioned her family’s influence on her art.
“I come from a family of artists and creatives,” she said. “We have painters, writers, furniture makers [and] quilt makers. That is something I grew up with, which made art and oral tradition really big for me.”
She also discussed her professional background, including her former teaching position at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and her journey to starting Black Box Press. She said she created this studio as a way to bring diverse artist communities together in a communal space, where art could be used for social justice and activism.
Martin’s art often combines different mediums, including stitching, oil paints, charcoal drawings and printmaking. While studying art at university, she primarily focused on drawing, and she only began printmaking at the age of 30.
One of Delita Martin’s print making pieces “Plate Installation” at Eaton Humanities on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 (Kaitlyn Riordan/CU Independent)
“I thought I had done everything that I could possibly do in drawing and that there was no way that I could push that medium further, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth,” Martin said.
Graeme Sauter, a 14-year-old from Kentucky who attended the reception with his mother, said he found Martin’s work to be very inspiring.
“There’s something so wonderful and different in the best way possible about her work,” he said. “It’s just such a wonderful feeling to be touched by art.”
Martin also discussed her concept of transitional pieces, which she said took her “from one state to the next.” She has made art during many different stages of her life, including after the death of her mother and then her brother only a few months later due to COVID-19.
Artist Deltia Martin featured work “Among Shadows” on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 (Kaitlyn Riordan/CU Independent)
“I can look at my art and tell you what was going on during those time periods,” Martin said.
“You don’t have to beat someone over the head to be an activist,” she said. “As a Black woman, I own my own studio, and I help other artists to produce what we want and put it out into the world. I’m telling my own story, and that’s a revolutionary act all day long.”
Her upcoming exhibitions will be in London on May 10, 2023, and a retrospective opening at the University of Texas San Antonio on Jan. 1, 2024.
Contact CU Independent Art and Entertainment Editor Summer Aljobory at sana.aljobory@colorado.edu.
