Tomasa Martín, born in 1960, is a Spanish contemporary artist based in Barcelona. From 1980 to 1984, she studied Fine Arts in Barcelona, and in 1986 she further developed her knowledge of graphic techniques and printmaking.
Martín has developed a distinctive figurative style in which the human being and the inner world of experience take centre stage. Her paintings are generally quiet and intimate in atmosphere. She seeks not only to depict a person’s outward appearance, but above all to make emotions such as wonder, melancholy, doubt, loneliness and vulnerability visible.
Tomasa Martín works primarily with a combination of acrylic and oil paint. She builds her paintings through successive layers of paint and mainly uses linen canvas and wooden panels as supports. Her compositions are often restrained and minimalist, allowing the figure, body language and emotional atmosphere to receive full attention.
In addition to portraits and human figures, she incorporates elements of everyday life into her work, such as:
- books and newspapers;
- fashion and popular culture;
- people reading, working or thinking;
- geometric forms and balancing structures;
- social events and contemporary visual culture.
Silence plays an important role in her compositions. The people depicted often seem completely absorbed in their own world. This creates a relationship between the artwork and the viewer that is both direct and enigmatic.