His artistic practice uses his own body, often nude, in order to draw attention to the embodied experience of Blackness under systems of violence and exploitation.
[1][2][5][7][6] Thematically, his works explore racism and racialization, gender, immigration, and the legacy of European colonialism in the United States.
[12] A designation awarding him a $50,000 grant and an exhibition at the Museo del Barrio, whose mission is to bring awareness and amplify the voices of underrepresented Latinx artists.
After airdrying and dehydration, the specimen was placed inside a gold medal resembling those given to certain people by the Cuban government by art conservator, Flavia Perugini.
[18] During Dictadura (2015), Martiel was held down by a neck brace at the foot of a flagpole upon while the flags of greater than 20 Latin American and Caribbean nations were hoisted for the duration of an hour, drawing attention to totalitarianism and U.S. military imperialism in those countries.