Martina Martian

@martinamartian

Artist & Illustrator

Past UNSW Student, PR & Advertising and Design

Name, age and favourite song to get down to.

Martina Martian, 22, ‘I Feel It Coming’ The Weeknd

How did you get your start in digital illustration?

I started illustrating on my Instagram photos, then people offered to pay me to draw on theirs too!

Name some projects and collaborations your are currently working on and how these came about.

I'm currently working on a series of GIFs for Instagram/Giphy! I reached out to them a few months ago and since then they've hired me as a contract GIF creator.

Describe some of your favourite past collaborations, and what made them meaningful.

My favourite collaboration was creating the Aussie-themed stickers for Snapchat. It was a challenge to create 30 stickers which reflected Australian culture in a fun but relevant way, and I am so proud of the end result. People really responded to the fact that I had included the Aboriginal flag, a rainbow YES for marriage equality and of course… a bin chicken.

Tell us a little bit about your creative process. What themes do you explore in your work?

I explore themes that are relevant to me and which I’m passionate about- more often than not these are themes of women's empowerment, feminist issues, travel and positive thinking.

Can you talk about your internet feminism and how this plays a role in the wider feminist landscape, and your artistic practice.

As the third feminist wave gained traction in online spaces, feminist issues really started to enter my daily consciousness. I started to educate myself more and more about feminism and this naturally started to influence my work too. I found a lot of women really resonated with my feminist illustration pieces, which have been part of what is a large online movement to push feminist slogans and messages.

How do you view the role of social media to artistic practice?

Social media is a 24/7, widely accessible art gallery that generations before us never had. It helps me as an artist get inspired and motivated, but also gives me a free platform to reach people. It's an incredible tool for artists.

Can you tell us a bit about your sticker sets and gif stories?

I've been creating GIFs and stickers for over year now, including for iMessages, Snapchat and (more recently) Instagram.

I also created the original GIF challenges which kind of took off on the internet a few weeks ago. I’d seen similar GIF challenges on Tumblr etc. but decided to design an actual pretty template people could repost on their Instagram stories instead so that we could all get to know each other a bit better- and people really liked it! Since then many other artists and brands have adapted the design to make their own GIF challenges, but I’m just glad it lead so many new viewers to my work. 

What are some other artists you love?

I love any artist from the Memphis era! 

What does the future hold for you ? Which upcoming collaborations or projects are you most excited about and how do you see your practice developing?

I'm excited to be working more extensively with Giphy, hosting workshops and collaborating on stickers for special events around the world. I see my practice going more global, which has been the plan all along!