ALESSANDRA MARTINS
Writer |Visual Artist|Cultural producer
From poetry to visual storytelling, bridging literary practice and contemporary visual culture.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou,
About me
I’m Alessandra Martins, an Afro-Brazilian writer, visual artist, and cultural producer working across literature, memory, and contemporary artistic expression.
I was born in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, where I began writing at an early age as a way of understanding the world and giving form to lived experience. From my teenage years, while balancing work and study, I developed resilience and a sharp sense of observation that continue to shape my creative practice.
My work is grounded in Afro-Brazilian literature, ancestry, and Black identity, moving between writing, photography, and visual language. My visual work explores displacement, motherhood, ancestry, and resistance as interconnected experiences.
I have lived in different countries and currently reside in the United States, an experience that broadens my perspective on identity, displacement, and belonging.
I am the author of Voa, Sankofa, Voa! (2021) and O Sol Brilha Para Todos (2023), and my work has been published in anthologies and literary journals, including Cadernos Negros (Quilombhoje).
My artistic practice also extends to audiovisual work. I received an Honorable Mention for the short film Afrodescendant Communities (UNESCO and IberCultura Viva, 2018) and participated in the Black and Indigenous Narratives Laboratory at FLUP in partnership with Rede Globo (2022).
I develop independent projects in the United States through Black Reina Luxury, a circular fashion initiative exploring reuse, sustainability, and visual culture.
My work moves between word and image as forms of artistic presence.
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