Based in Glasgow, UK
Sara graduated in Communications and is an award winning Art Director. Her motivation and her passion for hand-made printmaking drove her to study a Master of Letters in Fine Art Practice - Print Media at the Glasgow School of Art (2014 – 2015) where she obtained a Masters with Distinction. Her work is primitive, using paper and printmaking to open a debate about modern ways ofcommunication and interaction in human relationships.
Photo by Sandra Franco www.sandrafrancophoto.com“My nature is to be an observer more than a player. That’s how it has always been for me. I am very interested in the behaviour of people and their response to messages, visual or audio-visual. I think that’s why I ended up working in communication and advertising. I enjoyed projecting myself onto other people’s lives and finding a connection – an insight- with a product: with an object. My interest, beyond marketing strategy, has always been anthropological: analysing human behaviour and how we relate to the world. I enjoy touching and transforming material with my hands and I can spend hours processing an image. It feels real and closer to nature; completely different to any work made 100% by a computer. Working on a stone that has existed for millions and millions of years gives me more satisfaction than the impermanence of a screen. I guess after so many years of putting my body into the rush of a civilization that is updated every 30 seconds, it is now rejecting such velocities and embracing the joy of reality.”
Recent exhibitions
“Southside Salon: Southside Fringe Exhibition”
ARTPARK, House for an Art Lover
Glasgow, UK. May 2017
Group show
“Not Alone”
IOTA Unlimited Studios
Glasgow, UK. April 2017
Solo show
“Praying point”
#24hourwindow
King Street, Glasgow, UK. 21 July - 20 August 2016
Curated by NADFLY
Nicola Atkinson and Caspar J Wilson
"Hotspot"
RSA OPEN EXHIBITION 2016
Edinburgh, UK. 16 July - 30 August 2016
Group exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy.
"A Camel is a Horse"
Tranmission
Group exhibition.
Glasgow, UK. 25 June - 24 July 2016
“The Peep Show of Hearts” Distinction
Masters Degree Show
Glasgow, UK. September 2015
Group exhibition part of the MLitt Fine Art Practice,
Glasgow School of Art
“Get Rid of YourSelf”
IOTA Unlimited Studios
Glasgow, UK. June 2015
Group exhibition part of the MLitt Fine Art Practice,
Glasgow School of Art
“The Circus of the Imaginary Monsters”
Ministerio de Asuntos Importantes
Madrid, Spain. September 2014
Press
Herald Scotland. Jan Patience / Saturday 12 September 2015 / News
(...) Social media and the modern preoccupation with sharing our thoughts on screen in ever more vacuous ways features in a couple of very strong installations. The first caught my ear’s attention the minute I walked into Gallery 4. Sara Alonso Martinez’s The Peep Show Of Hearts is an immersive dip into the future. It is 2030 and there are “no more selfies because everyone had got rid of the self”. A monotone voiceover, underpinned by a rhythmic beating heart, tells us he “wants to be a voyeur of your heart”. A crudely decorated papier-mâché heart lit up from the inside sits at the centre. The walls are splattered with greyish paint and there’s a slate semi-circle at our feet. A large graphic novel-style hand-printed book (which we are invited to leaf through using black gloves) tells the story we are hearing on the audio. I can still hear it now and I’m fretting about the anti-social media world my 11-year-old daughter will inhabit in 15 years’ time. (...)
Awards in Advertising
2013* TOYOTA, "Superparents". Integrated Campaign
Bronze in El Sol, Iberoamerican Advertising Festival, Bilbao.
2012* FLEX, "¡Arriba!". Integrated Campaign
Gold in El Sol, Iberoamerican Advertising Festival, Bilbao.
2011* GETAFE F.C, "Koala". Film
Silver in El Sol, Iberoamerican Advertising Festival, San Sebastián.
2009*AUTOPROMO-Ruiz Nicoli Líneas. "Packed Words"
Cannes shortlist.
Promotions with the project "Palabras Envasadas"
2008* MTV. "Dance movements" Press campaign.
Cannes shortlist.
2007* MTV. "Dance movements" Press campaign.
Bronze in El Sol, Iberoamerican Advertising Festival, San Sebastián.