Daniel Martin Diaz
Based in Tucson, Arizona, Daniel Martin Diaz is an American artist and musician. His work has been exhibited worldwide and has been published in LA Times, NY Times, Juxtapoz, High Fructose, and Low Rider Magazine as well as in five books dedicated to his artwork. Diaz has designed artwork for large public art projects in the US and has won many awards such as a gold and platinum record designed for Atlantic Records. He is also involved in various musical projects. The band P.O.D. commissioned Diaz to design and paint the cover of their self-titled album  Payable on Death. The album went gold in four weeks and caused a controversy across the country due to the cover artwork Diaz created. In 2010, he designed and painted the cover of Good Charlotte's album, Cardiology. Influences. Diaz's influences include an eclectic mix from fantastical Mexican Retablos, mystical votive offerings, the Early Netherlandish painters, Gothic ornamentation, arcane religious sigils and medallions, alchemy, as well as symbolism culled from assorted secret societies such as The Rosicrucians. Symbolism. Symbolism plays a central role in Diaz’s art. It harks back to an earlier Christian culture where a mostly illiterate  populace could read the paths leading to the world of the Spirit in the figures, colors, symbols, and gestures of the sculptures, paintings, and mosaics that adorned the portals, walls, and altar screens of the churches. Like his predecessors, he provides an artistic shorthand—one uniquely his—to bring his viewers to an inner, higher world. Artist statement. "One of my earliest memories as a child was the way death and religion played an important role in my family’s life. My parents were born in Mexico with traditional beliefs, and their beliefs made their way into my subconscious. The  fact that many of those beliefs seemed to render no logical explanation has also influenced me. These unanswered questions find a home in my work, which evokes the mystery, fear and irony of those vivid memories of my past. I do not claim to understand these questions. I just paint and let them reveal themselves to me." - Daniel Martin Diaz Music. Diaz is a primary member of the bands Blind Divine (with singer Paula Catherine Valencia); Crystal Radio (with singer Amelia Poe) and Trees Speak.