‘From A Rock To A Place’ Art Exhibition: Interview With Geraldine Martinez

Local artist Geraldine Martinez is holding an art exhibition of her work at the Fine Arts Gallery in Casemates next month. Titled ‘From A Rock To A Place’, the exhibition brings together a selection of her paintings and drawings, from colourful landscapes inspired by places and memories to more conceptual explorations of the human figure within the landscape.

We caught up with the artist to find out more…

YGTV: Tell us more about the title of your exhibition ‘From A Rock To A Place’ — how does it capture the nature of your work?

Geraldine Martinez: The title has several layers of meaning. Gibraltar is known as the Rock, and it is my home, so the title naturally begins with that sense of place and identity. But I also wanted it to mean something beyond geography.

A rock is something physical and solid, but a place is something we give meaning to through our experiences, memories and relationships. It becomes part of who we are.

My work explores that relationship between ourselves and the world around us. It looks at our connection to nature, our sense of belonging, and how places and experiences shape our identities. So, for me, the title is about looking beyond the physical place and thinking about what it means to us personally.

YGTV: Why have you decided to bring your works together for this exhibition? How long have you been planning it and what work has gone on in the background to make it possible?

Geraldine Martinez: I’ve wanted to have an exhibition like this for a long time. When I was younger, I wanted to study fine art, but life took me in a different direction and I went on to build a career in graphic and website design, a profession I've been in for 30 years. I eventually returned to fine art in my forties, and it's become a huge part of my life since.

Over the years, I've built up quite a body of work, exploring different subjects, mediums and ideas. I reached a point where I felt it was time to bring these works together and share them with people, rather than keeping them all at home or in my studio! I've been quietly planning this exhibition for about a year.

There's been an enormous amount of work behind the scenes, from selecting and preparing the pieces to planning the exhibition and bringing everything together. It's really exciting to see it all come to fruition!

YGTV: What kind of works will be on display? Can you give us an idea of their themes and what forms you explore?

Geraldine Martinez: There will be around 45-50 works on display, so quite a mixture of subjects, sizes and mediums.

There are landscapes, paintings inspired by places I've visited, figurative works and more introspective and conceptual pieces. Some are inspired by the natural world, while others explore people, emotions and our relationship with the world around us.

I enjoy working in different mediums, my favourites are oils and charcoal. Although the works are quite varied, I think there's a common thread running through them. I'm interested in how we experience the world, how places and memories stay with us, and how our relationship with nature and with each other shapes our lives.

The ten large-scale charcoal works are the main focus of the exhibition. They're particularly important to me because they bring together many of these ideas, and working on a larger scale has allowed me to explore charcoal in a way I really love.

I wanted the exhibition to bring together different aspects of my artistic journey, while allowing the works to speak to one another.

YGTV: Tell us more about the ten large-scale charcoal works — how do they explore isolation, connection, displacement, memory and environmental change?

Geraldine Martinez: These ten works are particularly important to me because they explore things I've been thinking about for a long time.

I'm very interested in our relationship with the natural world and what's happening to our environment. But I'm also interested in the human side of things: how we can feel connected to the world around us, yet sometimes feel completely isolated. How we can feel we belong somewhere, but at other times feel displaced or disconnected.

Memory is important, too. Places and experiences stay with us, and sometimes the way we remember something can be just as powerful as the experience itself.

All these things are connected in some way, and I think they find their way into my work, sometimes consciously and sometimes without me even realising it at first.

I chose charcoal because I love its honesty and the emotional weight it can convey. I love the contrast between light and darkness, the textures you can create and the atmosphere you can achieve without colour. I find it incredibly expressive, and I think it allows me to communicate something quite powerful.

I don't necessarily want to explain every painting or tell people exactly what they should see in it. I'd rather they spend time with the work and find their own meaning. Everyone brings their own experiences and feelings to a painting, and I love the idea that someone might see something completely different from what I had in mind when I created it.

YGTV: What effect do you hope your artworks will have on people who engage with them?

Geraldine Martinez: I hope people will stop for a moment and really look at the work. We live in such a busy world, constantly surrounded by images and information, and I think art gives us an opportunity to slow down and reconnect with ourselves.

If someone looks at one of my paintings and feels something, remembers a place, recognises an emotion or starts thinking about something in a different way, then the work has done something meaningful.

I don't expect everyone to interpret my work in the same way, and I don't think art always needs an explanation. Art is a conversation between the artist and the viewer, and sometimes that conversation happens without words.

Ultimately, I'd love people to leave the exhibition with something that stays with them, whether it's a feeling, a memory or a new way of looking at the world.

And, of course, if someone falls in love with one of my paintings and wants to take it home, that would be wonderful too!

‘From A Rock To A Place’ is open to the public from 17th - 27th November at the Fine Arts Gallery in Casemates, Monday to Friday from 10am to 7pm.