Ariana Martinez

Preparing some very special hand-made paper bundles for @risd.unbound . Hand-formed and pigmented sheets of cotton and abaca fiber paper available as postcards and calling cards. For friends, for lovers, for memories worth archiving ✏️🌸🌷💌 Video descriptions: 1. Two glassine envelopes filled with yellow and blue handmade paper cards are tied with blue baker’s twine. Ariana’s hand reaches into the frame to reveal the text of the attached gift tags which explain the sizes and materials of the envelope contents. 2.) Ariana turns a fragment of handmade paper over in their hand. Pale yellow, rosary pink, and dusty blue fibers overlap as organic shapes pressed into a flat pattern. 3.) A close up view of just the blue side of the sheet, which is flecked with pink fiber.

Johnathan Wilborn: Sweeping Out the Tomb Documentation and text by @resonancearchive now online @c.a.library 🤍

In the studio prepping some of these to give away / trade at an upcoming book fair. I believe in always having something on hand that moves as a gift. “What is Art For?” Is a call to recognize our skills as artists, rather than our products, as being useful to movement and liberation work. Image description: Ariana’s ink-stained hand holds a stack of A6 folded zines. A grey-scale image of a sprawling pencil drawing—a walled garden, hands digging through the earth toward freedom, a fracturing world, an embrace of something holy—lies beneath the capitalized title “WHAT IS ART FOR?” On the paper cutter below, an unfolded b-side reveals white text overlaid on an inmate of a stone-covered shore. The visible text reads “THREE DEVOTIONS // FOR THE SPIRIT // A STONE IN YOUR POCKET, WEIGHTY TETHER AND TALISMAN”

Back in 2020, I made a narrative audio artwork and series of animations after having returned to my family’s ancestral lands in Lajas, Puerto Rico for the first time since I was a very young child. Lajas is in the south west of the main island of the archipelago, with Cabo Rojo being one of our closest neighbors. The region is ecologically unique—with dry forests lining coastal cliffs, mangrove trees with their networks of roots supporting life below, high winds and tall grass rolling into farmland as you go inland. The region is agricultural, still supporting traditional crops like pineapple and plátanos. Today, a luxury development project, “Esencia” (“Essence”) has received nearly $500 million in government subsidies to privatize an enormous swath of this precious coastal land in Cabo Rojo. In order to support the infrastructure necessary for mega hotels and luxury multimillion dollar homes in such a dry region, Essencia will draw water from Lajas. My family’s presence in Lajas predates U.S. imperialism, with Puerto Rican independence fighters among them. My mother’s people, Taíno ancestors, endured the arrival of Spanish colonizers in the 1400s, and some of them have remained on the same land to this present day. I was just there. I saw and felt what is at stake. Cabo Rojo is our neighbor. That land is sacred kin. #EssenciaNoVa #defiendeacaborojo

Taking stock and treasuring all the small bits in preparation for an upcoming book fair. I’ve finally reprinted and bound some copies of both “Friend of the Wind” and “A Bridging Language.” If I owe you a book, it’s coming your way. The rest of you, stay tuned for opportunities to touch these & other zines unfolding in April, May, and June. There will be something for friends across the US, UK, & EU. ✈️💌📔 Image description: A collection of printed matter arranged in boxes on a white bedspread bearing pale, map-like lines. There are copies of zines: “Friend of the Wind” and “A Bridging Language” which both feature covers made from embossed grey and brown paper, letterpresses titles, and saddle stitched bindings. They sit nearby a box of scraps and test sheets from their print production.

Join us for the opening of Johnathan Wilborn
Sweeping Out the Tomb
New Paintings and Sculptures March 19, 2026
18.00–21.00 Cabanon is pleased to present »Sweeping Out the Tomb«, the debut solo exhibition of New York–based artist Johnathan Wilborn, featuring new paintings and sculptures. Working at the intersection of optical and mechanical vision, Wilborn employs the logic of printmaking to produce hybrid paintings that probe the conditions of contemporary image-making. The exhibition centers on a series of near-monochromatic black paintings depicting the artist photographing the landscape behind him through the reflection of a window. Alongside these works, abstract paintings and sculptures—formed from remnants of the artist’s own consumption in the spaces he occupies—explore the relationship between embodied vision and the digital screen. Moving between the roles of nomad, consumer, and flâneur, Wilborn reflects on socio-economic alienation in the age of digital information and the technological sublime. The exhibition is accompanied by a text by Ariana Martinez. 📍 Cabanon
74 avenue Ledru-Rollin
75012 Paris Opening times:
March 20–22, 15.00–18.00
and by appointment
[email protected]

Celebrating one year of Inland Sea. Despite how hard parts of the last year have been, this collaborative work propelled me forward with renewed energy and love for my sonic practice, put me back into my body, and cemented one of my most transformative friendships and working relationships. Since @lucylittlemusic came into my life and helped me craft this world, I have been slowly gathering steam to return to sound as a primary medium, and investing in my writing and performance practices as new tools to get me there. There are some exciting developments I’ll share later this spring / summer, but know that there is more where this came from. Video description: Ariana positions themselves at the edge of where the soft sculptural surface meant to represent sand dunes meets the shimmering surface meant to represent an icy Lake Michigan. They extend the full length of their body across the surface of the “lake”, displacing smaller sculptural objects as they traverse the short distance to a tree branch on the other end. They lay down completely flat on their stomach, arm extended, fingers tapping a quick, percussive beat across the length of the branch. The branch has been wired with a contact microphone, so its sound reverberates throughout the room. The video cuts to the digital composted video projected behind the performance area. A triad of vignettes of Lake Michigan ice floats on top of a still image of the snow covered shore. Ariana, now positioned at the long edge of the “lake” surface, hands searching the surface, putting smaller sculptural objects back in their place. Satisfied, Ariana stands up and walks back toward the soft sculptural “shore”. They slowly inch across the padded platform and return to resting on their back.

Thank you @spaceonspacemagazine for looking closely and capturing the most important aspects of my work, Humphrey’s Field [convergence ritual]—its quiet resistance to the passive gaze and digital capture. This work is on view with @blahblahgallery in Philly. Image Descriptions: A screenshot from @spaceonspacemagazine : A few other anchoring works include Humphrey’s Field (convergence ritual] by Ariana Martinez, a very quiet artwork, which nearly blends in with the white wall. Made of embossed cotton paper, its restraint creates tension of its own: it summons slower looking. Among algorithmic overstimulation and scroll slop, a quiet piece feels loud. Similarly, the two sketches by Rebecca Arp, Shape Study and Color Study (Blossom), mirror this invitation.” 2. A screenshot from @spaceonspacemagazine “Holding Pattern, on view through February 28, is a liminal space shaped by discomfort, disorientation, and redirection. Blah Blah Gallery’s third juried exhibition brings together fifteen artists curated by director Megan Galardi, with guest jurors Shannon Maldonado and Libby Rosa. The show statement frames the exhibition through repetition, delay, and internal logic: gestures recur and accumulate until effort stays visible and form resists resolution. Below is a selection of works that most clearly follow the show’s framework of suspension.” A header at the top of the review reads “disorientation, discomfort, and redirection” followed by the author’s byline, “Emily Elizabeth Logan” and the date, “January 21, 2026.” 3.) Ariana’s artwork, “Humphrey’s Field [convergence ritual]” as photographed by @bamblerdander when it was previously on view @rutgersartdesign . A sand colored sheet of paper bears a geometric composition of raised dots and lines. A rectangular form contains two ovals, edging toward the center from either side. Straight lines emanate from a central point within each oval, splaying out and joining in the negative space at the center of the composition. These entangled froms are surrounded by a dense, granular texture. The unmarked sections of paper have a soft, woven feel and terminate in deckled edges.

An offering for the departed, overdue and small. But it is what I have in a dark time. “Voyage to the Planets: Earth” is excerpted from the chapbook I wrote while in residence @jamescastlehouse last summer, Friend of the Wind. For those who the state takes from us, from each other, and from their homes, and for the lands that bear the weight of violence, we are watching. May the departed travel fast and light on the wind, returning to us as breath. Text reads: VOYAGE TO THE PLANETS: EARTH WEAVER Ingenious home builder Spectral traveler near the limit of man's normal vision, we want you to use your simplest ways . This powerful, direct drive t o OFFER food Company, to The good planet Earth, sun- blessed sanctuary of THE GREAT LAKES of history, art, and precious metal HOME TO THE ENDURING BERKSHIRES Unaccountably PRECIOUS you need one minute— YEAR lifetime? —that's it! Well, not quite all. Ill winds blow in a bad winter FILIGREE OF ICE LAYERS OF THICK CLOUDS above Venus FRIEND OF THE WIND: You are bright, the Planets protect you Now! in a burst of beauty 28 million miles distant, our Life explodes OOPING AROUND coming and going WITH EACH breath A new dimension in palm of your hand. A Pulse The sound of experience The simplest camera you ever used. your appetite gives YOU your willpower building constancy of the heavens. Just press Against Loss hands to the sun collection well as action, your LABOR BRINGS YOU nothing to PRICE because it's FREE And glued together AND Beautiful THE COMMON history is the force behind bonding. an heirloom DREAM built into the LAND Read it Not idly are they called the Great Lakes. Shouldn’t the WORLD whose earliest recorded times and seas and PAINTINGS be treasured now the Dead SEA Atlantic THE GREAT LAKE watches thinks so. The new Voyage EXPLORING THE HEAVENS Diving Beneath Arctic Ice just might be long There's no time like the present AND there will be times denser than Earth's—

Sacred Bed | Sacred Bath, 2025 Diptych of handmade and pigmented flax paper, watercolor monotype on cotton paper, cotton thread, salvaged Tetrapak, and grommets. I closed out 2025 with a Greater Opportunity Fellowship from @vacenterforthecreativearts , and I spent two weeks of the winter dreaming and scheming for the body of work I will be embarking on in 2026. I am in the preliminary stages of a new artist’s book and performance artwork about narcolepsy, flickering consciousness, the history of sacred sites for healing sleep rituals, and forms of agency and power sick people can practice in our dreams and in times of rest. Thank you @bellawattles for capturing me in the studio and making sure all of us artists left our caves to actually meet each other and see each other’s work. 💫 Image descriptions: 1. A midnight blue sheet of paper that is both whisper thin and strong supports a second, narrower sheet of paper that is printed with a pattern of tangled blue marks, soft and diffuse. 2.) A large sheet of cotton paper printed with a pattern of tangled blue marks: Shifting reflection. Ice at the moment of fracture. Light reaching up from the bottom of a pool. A frame of metallic Tetrapak isolates a small window of blue. 3.) A small scrap of paper bears a message in pencil: “there is a place by the river where the sick go to dream” 4.) Ariana sitting in their studio at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts 5. A collection of small test prints. Monotypes monologuing about a riverbed. 6.) A post-studio day sunset. 7.) A surprise big snow blankets the VCCA campus.

One of the most important experiences of 2025 for me was my time spent at the @haystack_school Open Studio Residency back in September. This community was, and continues to be incredibly welcoming, inspiring, and supportive. On my hardest days, I remember that there are spaces like this that model ways to build creative community built on experimentation without expectation, fearless learning in the open, and genuine peer support. Haystack is currently accepting applications for the Open Studio residency and summer workshop sessions. If you have any questions about applying or would like a second pair of eyes on your materials, please reach out. I would love to support others in making it out to this incredible place. Images described with alt-text.

Hi friends, I am immediately and urgently in need of work. I can begin working 4 days a week in mid-January. Things I can do well (in order of preference): -teaching (most experienced with higher ed & community-based adult learning, limited experience with youth) -administering educational programs (logistics, scheduling, curriculum development) -professional development and training for media workers and arts workers in the areas of grant/apication writing, personal storytelling and public speaking, developing and implementing access tools. More things I can do: -graphic design and illustration (editorial, educational, arts & culture) -one-on-one project consultations for sound design and audio storytelling, or cross-disciplinary projects -story editing for print and audio -grant writing and project management for arts organizations and individual creative workers. I am also opening my books for the first time in nearly 3 years for sound design and engineering projects. Existing / former collaborators preferred but I will happily consider new projects from independent media workers and artists, especially fellow disabled folks. Please share widely.