Benita Martín, the Art of Patience

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Benita Martín, one of the best artisan in Cuba was born on May 6, 1931.

Until her death, Benita Martín preserved vitality in her hands and the ability to make beautiful handcrafted creations that travel the universe. An authentic woman from Sancti Spiritus, inscribed, through her work, in the history of our culture.

Benita Martín was one of the most important artisans in the country. She obtained awards and mentions in countless events and fairs, for the originality of the material she used and the quality of her work, of astonishing meticulousness.

Her creations are scattered in the most prestigious craft collections in the world.

One day Benita Martín had the idea of ​​working with the scourer, that Cuban vegetable fiber, and with patience and ingenuity she gave it whimsical shapes.

Thus, a yoke of oxen, a peasant, and an old woman appeared from her hands; figures, all very expressive and with eyes that look with the intention that their director set out to do. Endowed with personality, her figures live like snapshots that perpetuate a moment.

Benita was a permanent observer of the surrounding reality. She did not create using models because she kept them in her memory. From her childhood she kept the peasant figures that surrounded her, the images of her family and that special sensitivity for animals, of which she managed to capture their most suggestive features.

With the art of patience Benita Martín wove the scouring pad between her fingers until it was humanized. Perseverance, good taste, knowledge of the proportions and psychology of the human being denote the work of this artisan whose creations communicate a state of mind to us, as if they were brought to reality from memory and nostalgia.