GERALDINE MARTINEZ-BENZ Alay (Offering) (2024)

GERALDINE MARTINEZ-BENZ
Alay (Offering) (2024)
Oil on canvas
39.5” x 39.5” x 5”
$4,000

ARTIST STATEMENT:
As a very visual person, my love for capturing the colorful garb of the indigenous tribes of the Philippines has gone all the way back when I was a fine arts student in the Philippines. It is also a way for me to spread our cultural heritage, especially outside of my home country. Even more so, nowadays I can feel the search for connection with their roots among the younger  Filipino-Americans getting stronger with each coming generation.

ARTIST BIO:

Geraldine Martinez-Benz is a children’s book designer, fine artist, graphic designer, wife and mother. She is a Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate with a major in Painting from the University of the Philippines-Cebu. She has shared her love for the visual arts through several summer art workshops in the Philippines and with Filipino-American kids at the Philippine Consulate in Chicago. A native of Ormoc City, she has also taught street and indigent children through a partnership with the local DSWD and World Vision chapters, rooted in the belief that art should be made accessible to all. For her day job she has worked as a graphic designer in Manila, Cebu, Shenzhen and Chicago. As a visual artist, she has exhibited in the Philippines, Chicago and Evanston. Three years ago she founded Sinag, now a 70 member strong art collective of Filipino-American Artists in the Chicago area. She curated Sinag’s biggest Filipino-American art exhibit at the Evanston Art Center last April 2024.