Daniela Paz Talamantes Martinez (standing by tree), Collaborative Portrait
Daniela stands in a park next to a tree branch. They are wearing blue shorts and a patterned red top. Their left hand rests on their collarbone area. They are staring directly into the camera. The overcast weather creates a soft glowing white light.

Daniela Paz Talamantes Martinez (glowing), Collaborative Portrait
Daniela stares directly into the camera. They are wearing a patterned red top. Their lips are softly parted and their face is illuminated by a gold light.

Daniela Paz Talamantes Martinez

Daniela Paz Talamantes Martinez (they/them), is an artist and art educator from San Antonio, TX. They identify as nonbinary, queer, and Mexican-American and are bilingual in Spanish and English. They are a multimedia visual artist who works with paint, collage, textiles, photography, and more.

You can find them on Instagram: @danielapazcat 
Email: danielapaz.tm@utexas.edu

Grandpa y Yo
Vintage photograph of me as a toddler in a red shirt, light skin, smiling and pointing at the photographer, held by grandfather, glasses and dark brown skin, who is laughing with me. There is a scanned red, green, and white girl scout patch floating above my head that reads “Yo Prometo Por Mi Honor, Hispanic Heritage, GSSAA.”

Abuelita and Me
Vintage photograph of me as a baby next to my abuelita and a stuffed bear. There is a rosary placed on top of the photograph with red beads and a silver cross. The photograph has a hazy quality with a striped couch overlaid, and another faded image of me as a baby.

Bits and Pieces

But these are my whole vida

Abuelita is gone, my grandpa hanging on

I never pray, but I pray today

My brother and I fought like siblings,

But we are okay now, we are still growing

It is hard to pour with nothing in my cup

My job has taken over my life,

But my partner keeps me smiling, laughing

He and they together, we are fluid

I photograph them, and I draw

To capture a moment

I was an artist, now an art teacher

And I am quitting in December,

Watch me be, as I leave

Be an artist from what I remember

 

Grandpa
Photograph of my grandfather sitting on a couch with a red pillow on his lap, with an image of a brown shelf overlaid next to him, and red curtains behind him. He has dark brown skin, a white t-shirt, blue jean shorts. He is getting his blood pressure checked by my father who is barely in the photograph.

Ale and Me
Vintage photograph of me (bottom shelf), and my younger brother (top shelf), as 3-6 year olds lying on white shelves in the family room. There is a toy horse on a stick on the shelf above my brother, and a white purse on the very top shelf. I have long brown hair and am wearing a long sleeved white shirt and lavender pants with blue socks, and my brother has short brown hair, wearing a light blue shirt, brown shorts, and brown hiking boots, while holding another toy horse on a stick. There are 20 red marks made digitally on the top shelf with the purse to symbolize my brother’s current age, and two red marks above my foot to signify the extra two year difference between me and my younger brother.

 

Mask Convo
Photograph of three figures sitting together outside the restaurant, Arturo’s Underground, with the sign “arturo’s” visible, surrounded by green vines, and a glass building in the background.

The figures from left to right include my mother whose back is turned away from the camera. My brother is in the middle with long curly brown hair, a black mask on, circle-framed black sunglasses, ripped black jeans, and his two hands holding his face, arms resting on his knees. The last figure is my father who is wearing white shirt with blue jeans, and a white mask, turned away from the camera.

Blue
Photograph of me with short brown hair, sitting on a stool in front of the restaurant “Arturo’s Underground,” surrounded by green vines, with a set of stairs behind me leading to a doorway. I am wearing a bright blue shirt with a red chile surrounded by the text “in salsa veritas” and dark blue sweatpants, with light blue socks covered in rainbows.

 

Flowerboy
Photograph of my partner, holding a can, and wearing rainbow swim shorts. There is an overlay image of green plants and flowers, covering his face. The figure is highlighted against the dark background, taken at night.

No Nation States
Split photograph showing an American flag hung on a brick house on the right side of the image. The left side of the image shows an overlapping of hands holding different things such as a doorway, and a ceramic pipe in the shape of a human. There are also faint images of pumpkins shown in between the two hands.

Washing
Split photograph with the base image of a red/orange painted laundry room, showing washer and dryer. There is a painting of a still life hanging in the laundry room on the left side of the image. The photograph overlay on the right side of the laundry room shows a foot in a tiled pool layered with water reflections.

 

Fresas

It’s the little things that keep me okay

My kitties,

Faraway kisses,

Sweet Strawberries,

Lounges by the pool

I am them

I am thinking at midnight,

Trying to get past the panic I get teaching in my classroom

Everything I thought I could do,

I am no longer happy here

But the sweet strawberry kisses to my kittens

I will again be creative and go to sleep at a reasonable time

Por lo bueno voy a hacer

 

Future Vision 
This photograph features my partner wearing a hot pink sleeveless tank, yellow bandana and mask around their neck, and yellow and silver sunglasses. They are holding a red digital camera, and standing in front of Griffith Park in Los Angeles

Pumpkin Pals
This photograph depicts me and my partner’s legs and feet in the pool water, with an overlay image of bumpy orange pumpkins and green squash. There is a red-orange streak above my right leg, and water reflections covering the whole photograph.

Nonbinary bodies
This is an image of my partner’s side of body, leg, and breast, and my leg in the foreground. There is an overlay of green squash in the left hand side of the image, along with a red-orange streak from the camera strap.

Handpicked 
This photograph depicts my hand dangling a strawberry over my partner’s face. What they are smoking is obscured by the strawberry, and their face is in shadow. This image uses flash against a dark background, and the shadow of my hand and strawberry can be seen faintly on the wall behind my partner. 

Pizza Party
This image depicts a hand reaching out for pizza on the left followed by a black strip cutting the image up in an uneven half. On the right side is my partner’s side profile in mid sentence, with my arm holding a slice of pizza in front of them. My arm and pizza are washed out from the flash, and the background is in black and white.

Ice cream
This image shows my partner’s face looking at their friend on the left side of the image. The friend and I are holding two cones of ice cream that were washed out from the flash photography. There is a dark background with a fading sunset, and a sign for business “Floyd's Barbershop.”

Rojo
This is an image of myself sitting on a red blanket looking at the camera. I am wearing a red collared shirt, blue jean shorts, and am surrounded by various objects including a blue water bottle, pink fanny pack, tripod, camera, and bags. I am in Hemphill Park in Austin, Texas. There is a white vertical streak with an orange tinge on the left side of the photograph.

Strawberry Fest
This image is of my partner looking pensively across the kitchen table. They are shirtless and have their hand resting on the side of their face. In front of them is a blue mug, red strawberries and a purple box. There is an overlay of trees across their body.