Melba Martinez
Stay Strapped, 2024
Serigraph, ed. Of 50
30 x 22 in.

Through the work Stay Strapped, the artist Melba Martinez interrogates what self and community safety look like for brown queer bodies. With fascism on the rise, Martinez revisits the Pachuca as a symbol of protection for themselves and the people surrounding them, allowing the artist to bring forth different aspects of their practice together. The artist transformed herself into a tough-as-nails character through makeup, costume, and props, mirroring her resilient communities and their relentless fight against oppression. While playing with double entendre to bring a layer of lightness and comedy to the piece, Stay Strapped embraces the Phrase, “Not gay as in happy, but queer as in FUCK YOU!”