Treasures from the Vault: Delita Martin

Sachi Yanari-Rizzo, Curator of Prints & Drawings

Delita Martin was born in Conroe, Texas and likened her childhood to growing up in an art school. Her family was made up of poets, storytellers, quilters, furniture makers, and artists.  

African American artist John Biggers was both an early influence and with whom her father studied. Biggers’ art has maintained a strong presence in Houston, including murals and the founding of the art department at Texas Southern University, where he taught from 1949 to 1983. Her father gathered up 12-year-old Martin and her drawings and drove over 40 miles for her first critique, given by Biggers.  

Martin received her B.F.A in drawing from Texas Southern University. By the time she enrolled, however, Biggers had long retired. Martin became enthralled by printmaking through a chance encounter: while retrieving a sketchpad from a classroom, she stumbled upon Biggers and artists Charles Criner, Earlie Hudnall, Jr., and Harvey Johnson at work. Martin described watching a magical dance as they worked with chemicals and materials to pull Biggers’ lithographs. Although she never made a print during her time there, Martin went on to receive an M.F.A in Printmaking from Purdue University, which she acknowledged was a challenge. She attended undergraduate courses to learn technique and, in the evenings, focused on her graduate work. 

Martin recalled that what resonated with her the most about Biggers was his encouragement: “Don’t ever miss an opportunity to uplift your people.”ⁱ She continues to do this with her art and beyond. After teaching for several years at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Martin set up Black Box Press Studio to focus on her art full-time. In 2020, she formed Black Box Press Foundation, which provides Art as Activism grants that support artist’s exhibitions. She was a founding member of the collective Black Women of Print, established by Tanekeya Word in 2018, which promotes and supports the work of numerous mid-career and established Black women printmakers. Other past members include Purdue University alums LaToya Hobbs and Althea Murphy-Price. 

Martin’s portraits are about the spirit of the sitter: telling their stories and replacing stereotypes found in the media and society. Martin described her work as dealing, “with the reconstruction of the identity of Black women by piecing together the signs, symbols and language used in everyday life from the times of slavery in America through to today.”ⁱⁱ  

Veilscape is a term Martin uses to refer to the space between the spiritual world and the waking world. She gives visual form to the idea of these realms through her use of pattern, texture, and color. In Wild Flower, Martin’s strong drawing style contrasts with the flat colors and patterns. Her naturalistic modeling of the woman’s face gives a strong illusionistic sense of volume in contrast with the actual, physical texture of the needlework. There is a push-and-pull spatial effect in the woman’s face. At times, parts of her face merge with the background of pattern and color; other times the solidity of her features are distinct.  

Color figures prominently in Martin’s work. For the artist, colors are symbolic; blue is spiritual, a calm color while green represents nature and growth.  

Martin is a collector of patterns from fabrics, decorative papers, and photos of clothing she has seen on the street. Circular motifs recur in the background of her works or hooped earrings, as in Wild Flower. It is a symbol of the moon which has meanings in different contexts. Martin embraces that in some African cultures the moon represents women. She further explained that the circle “also represents the notion of totality, wholeness, and the infinite.”ⁱⁱⁱ 

Keepsakes is a series of seven prints that Martin created at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis. In this series she addresses what she refers to as “adultification”, or how quickly young children are forced to grow up. In this series, Martin sought to capture and preserve their innocence. 

Martin enjoys layering as she works on her mixed media prints, especially using different media and processes—drawing, printing, collaging, and hand stitching. In the Keepsakes series, Martin drew friends and family on lithography plates based on old photographs. The museum’s self-portrait, Delita, has an ethereal quality, as we can faintly see her facial features through the folds of a translucent christening gown. Martin had been collecting vintage christening gowns which were adhered to the printing matrixes. Then, the plates were inked and run through the press for a relief print. 

In Delita, a light mint green floral pattern is accentuated in areas by hand stitching with embroidery thread. Martin ordinarily does all her hand work but, because the needlework was required on 140 prints, the artist enlisted the help of a group of older women from Huffman, Texas, where her studio is located. The group shared stories while working and was reminiscent of a quilting bee. This became a memorable and meaningful aspect of the series. 

Keepsakes references quilt making, oral traditions, family albums, and scrapbooking—all traditions that preserve memories. As she was growing up, Martin learned sewing from her grandmother, the keeper of memories. All the while they sewed together, her grandmother shared stories, whether it was about the family, he childhood, or memories prompted by the fabric.  

Martin sees their time quilting as piecing her history. She uses tacking in her prints, the only stitch her grandmother taught her. It is unsurprising that Martin blends hand stitching with her own storytelling process in her art, given the medium’s rich personal and cultural history.  

Martin’s work is in numerous museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, where she was the subject of a solo exhibition in 2020. The following year, she was commissioned to create a mural for the program LEAP (Law Enforcement Accountability Project), honoring the life of Texas resident Yvette Smith and other women who were tragically killed. Martin exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2022 in the group exhibition, The Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined.