Article Bold Journey 2024
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Meet Pamela Diaz Martinez
April 30, 2024
We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Pamela Diaz Martinez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Pamela below.
Pamela, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I quit teaching college and picked up an internship and eventually a job working in fashion. Men’s and women’s bespoke shoes became my creative outlet while getting experience in a field other than contemporary art. Imposter syndrome started with many feelings of not having much to say about art except having a few exhibitions. I felt that my limited experience wasn’t enough for my college students, so I quit.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a West coast, public school girl through and through. I went to a public high school in Arizona and got my Master of Fine Arts degree at Arizona State University. I received my undergraduate degree in education from Northern Arizona University and since then I’ve taught most ages K-12 and college aged students. However, high schoolers have been my favorite for quite some time now. Since 2015 Atlanta, Georgia has been a great home for me personally and is now home to my own contemporary art gallery that is dedicated to spiritual contemplation.
D U N A M I S art space was inspired by the Sistine Chapel, Rothko Chapel and Austin, a chapel by artist Ellsworth Kelly. D U N A M I S art space opened to the public, October of 2023.
Additionally, for the last 10 years I have been making art that was inspired by a small niche of historically religious works of art from the 17th century. The Ecstasy of St. Teresa by Baroque master Lorenzo Bernini is my inspirational art grandfather who anchored my own work to art history. Bernini shocked his community with a provocative sculpture of a 16th century, Spanish mystic, Saint Teresa. She is known for her writings about her experience with God and Bernini made it available to the world visually.
Most of my artwork has been dedicated to my personal experience with God that has been explained in two verses of the Bible. Each verse says how the Holy Spirit is a shape shifter using wind and fire to bring people to faith. But, then the Pandemic hit. I had to take a break from my studio work and used drawing for the first time in my life as a healing tool. Once per week I would randomly select verses in the Bible to help myself and others to have faith during a very trying time. This practice changed my drawings forever. Because I could not focus for long periods of time, I made drawings with crayons and Pandemic anxiety. It loosened up my drawing style and I consider them sprints, 15-30 minutes drawings on random sheets of paper that I happened to have around in my studio. No over thinking to produce a work of art, which helped me to abandon pretense. My raw thoughts and emotions are now being captured in the way that I make art more so than before the Pandemic.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Be teachable, work hard and be kind.
I believe that the best life on earth is a balance between getting an education, having experiences and devoting oneself to intentional spirituality. A good life requires being teachable, being kind and working hard. But, spirituality (mental health) is just as important if not more important than skills or knowledge. A spiritual set of rules will produce desirable qualities. God is the source of our purpose. Primarily, if you focus on your relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit you will find God’s purpose for your life. It’s not the same as arriving at a purpose with effort and talent. Everyone has a purpose for good, but most people never get to their spiritual purpose.
First of all, if you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, ask Him to help you get there. Secondly, ask your friends, teachers, parents, anyone who knows you to tell you what makes you mentally, physically, spiritually unique and then day by day, you can make your way listening to the Holy Spirit for guidance. It takes intentional practice applying practical biblical concepts to your life, but as you try, with consistency over time and complete dedication, you will see God directing your decisions, thoughts and path.
Lastly, accountability in a community is very important to spiritual growth, otherwise, we can deceive ourselves into thinking we are on the right path. A path in life chosen by you is not the same as God’s path for you. Have fun with it too. God is funny.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I love to collab with all types of creatives and non-creatives alike. The type of people I want to work with now are people who are passionate about what they do and that have a positive attitude toward life and ideally want to make God visible to a wide audience. Specifically, right now I am looking to work with a musician, rug designer, an embroidery master, an architect, seamstress, furniture designers and more interior designers. I’m also open to anyone who has great ideas. If you are reading this, reach out, let’s work together.