ARTIST STATEMENT
As an artist who struggles with anxiety, social scenes can be stressful environments for me. I often find it challenging self-managing worrisome feelings and thoughts while being pulled into different conversations and questioned from multiple angles. I feel very uncomfortable in crowded rooms, and I find myself always looking for the exit. I have to be able to see it. After events, I question how I presented, how my art was received, if I deserved to be there, all types of things. I’ve heard that referred to before as Imposter Syndrome. I particularly struggle with artist talks. My art is very personal to me. Sharing my creations is sharing myself, and it is such a vulnerable place to have strangers gazing so deeply, criticizing, and questioning. One of the main reasons I create art is because it is a means of communicating my complex ideas when I haven’t yet captured the right words. So, talking about my art is added pressure for me. I do it, though. I show up and I do my best to give good energy because I understand why hearing directly from the artist is important, but this is a very real struggle. Besides, the only alternative is keeping the art to myself and that is not an option for me. I have stories I must tell.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Martryce Roach is a visual artist from New Brunswick, NJ. She first introduced her work in 2014 at The House of Art in her hometown. Her colorful, unconventional approach to pastels delivers energetic drawings that will surely make your eyes dance as they move across her landscapes of color. Her works are bright, fresh, current, and cultured. Martryce playfully incorporates elements of music, education, geometric shapes, and environment to construct art stories that speak to the human experience, particularly as it relates to African American culture.
Martryce earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health and Africana Studies and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. Working with people, resolving problems, advocating for change, fighting against injustice, teaching coping skills, and inspiring resilience have shaped a lot of the context for this artist’s work. Martryce strives to create a kinesthetic experience for observers, hoping that one walks away having felt something move within.
Martryce received the 2022 Fellowship Grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Martryce is currently exhibiting at the New Jersey State Museum for the New Jersey Arts Annual: Reemergence through April 2023, and her inspiring public art piece, Facing the Future Together is currently on view at the Newark Liberty International Airport in Terminal A.
© Martryce Roach