Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Skira Martinez . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Skira, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents taught me to think outside the box, how to create by reusing, redoing, revamping and reimagining. They fostered and supported my creativity by teaching me how powerful and nessasary imagination is. My parents and our surrounding community taught me all of this and more in doing and leading by example, not by sit down lectures or written text. They taught me how to use and create magic with my hands, shared ancestral knowledge with me and most importantly, they allowed and celebrated me being me.
All of these lessons have taught me how to not only create my work, but to survive, especially in times when it seems impossible.

Skira, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Being an assemblage/multidisciplinary artist was not something that I planned, it is just who and what I have always been. For many years I created work not realizing that what I was creating was considered art and that there was a term used to describe it. Most astonishing to me was that other people were also doing what I was doing and being recognized as artists. Once I had this knowledge, I was so motivated to explore that side of myself, hone my skills and connect with other artists that created similar works. Along my journey, I accidently fell into production design when I agreed to rent out my creative warehouse space for a fashion show. When the person who was hired to do the building and decorating canceled, I said that I could do the build. I needed the money and was confident that I could somehow pull it off. Using supplies that I had around the warehouse studio (wood, paint, cloth, maniquins, lights etc) I used my skills as an assemblage artist to create an amazing stage, backdrop and runway. I even set up a greenroom and hair/wardrobe/make up area backstage as well as a ‘red carpet’ like area for pictures and interviews with the designers. I did all of the build using not only finds around my studio but also discarded items found on the streets or in dumpsters. From there it was both word of mouth and self promotion that pulled me in – next thing you know, I am creating production designs for events, movies, music videos and commercials. My background as a visual artist plays a huge part in my designs and one thing that sets me apart is that I use found or discarded materials for my builds and am able to work with a variety of budgets. I make it a priority to create and build using what would otherwise go into a landfill. I also support small businesses when purchases are nessasary. These are fundamental parts of my practice as a visual artist that I am most proud of and that I communicate to my clients.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish that I had known earlier on, that one of the most valuable resources are other artists. It is within a circle of artists that i have found support, inspiration, knowledge and motivation.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Any resource based on ‘DIY’ has always informed how I problem solve and has had a huge impact on how I make decisions and move forward. Connecting to social media and making use of the internet has also been invaluable and has definitely been a game changer. I think that a ‘do it yourself’ mentality coupled with access to others who think the same is impowering and allows me to overcome would be obstacles and adapt to change in such a fast paced world. Oddly enough, doing it yourself can be a very communal situation – which is wonderful.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: skira.cielo
• Facebook: Skira Martinez
• Other: Facebook: Cielo galleries/studios