About the artist

Desiree Martinez is a self-taught artist born in Distrito Federal, Mexico, and raised in Toronto. Working primarily with paint and clay, she explores the beauty of imperfection and the emotional connections between body, mind, and memory.

Her creative journey began as a form of healing after a series of childhood experiences that left both emotional and physical marks. Through years of exploration, Desiree developed a deep connection to painting what makes us human — our fears, relationships, growth, motherhood, and the quiet moments that shape us as life unfolds.

Balancing her practice with full-time motherhood, Desiree draws inspiration from lived experience and emotional transformation. Her work spans painting and hand-built ceramic forms, each exploring human, body-like shapes and organic movement. Using earthy tones in acrylic and oil on paper and canvas, alongside sculptural pottery pieces, her work becomes an intimate reflection of vulnerability, resilience, and becoming.

Her work has been featured in exhibitions such as Artist Project and DesignTO, where she continues to share her evolving perspective and emotionally driven narratives with a wider audience.

Through her work, Desiree invites viewers to sit with emotion — not to fix it, but to feel it.