Photo by Nina Dubinsky. CityArtist grantee Carlos Martinez opened their solo exhibition, Life by a Thousand Cuts, on Oct. 1, 2026, during First Thursday Art Walk at The Ruom in Pioneer Square. The show features a series of surrealist portraits of Martinez, their siblings, and their closest friends.
“My exhibition Life by a Thousand Cuts is really about hope while also displaying different relationships, whether it be with community, with friends, or with siblings or with loved ones,” Martinez said. The paintings ask “how we have hope in the midst of loss, love, heartbreak, uncertainty.”
The work also has a dreamlike side. “A lot of the paintings have hopeful undertones, and the artwork also has an eeriness to it,” Martinez said. “It’s like how I feel life is sometimes. It can feel a bit surreal.”
The portraits show people Martinez knows well. “It’s my siblings, my friends, and myself,” they said. “It’s us experiencing life and facing uncertainty, facing heartbreak, facing just things that everyone goes through, these universal experiences.”
For Martinez, surrealism is the best way to share what they feel. “I find that for me that is the way that I can communicate certain emotions, messages, or personal experiences the best,” they said. “It is actually really hard for me to put things into words.”
The exhibition ends on a hopeful note. “These are also paintings that display hope and togetherness,” Martinez said. “It shows how we stay together. It shows how we drift apart, and then also how we come back to each other.”
Life by a Thousand Cuts is on view at The Ruom in Pioneer square through the end of October.
About the Artist
Carlos Martinez is an artist based in Seattle, Washington. He was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Redmond, Washington.
Carlos’ surrealist paintings use portraiture, symbolism, and dreamlike imagery to depict relationships, lived experiences and inner thoughts. His paintings center on themes of intimacy, the hidden dynamics between people and inner dialogue.
Notably, Carlos’ work has been showcased in the Tacoma Art Museum’s group exhibition, ‘El Noroeste’, celebrating Chicano/Latine artists in Washington State. His art was also featured on the cover of PublicDisplay.Art’s 2023 fall/winter issue. Additionally, his painting, ‘Saturn’s Bouquet’, was recently bought by the Seattle Convention Center for their permanent collection and is currently on display in the new Summit Building.