Janzel Martinez Maldonado

Janzel Martinez Maldonado (b. 1977) began creating art at an early age while studying at the Escuela Central de Artes Visuales in Puerto Rico, a middle and high school specializing in visual arts. After six years of study, he graduated with the highest honors in painting. He went on to earn a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics, and later spent a decade as a cloistered yoga monk.

Following his time in the monastery, Janzel moved to New York, where he refined his artistic practice with the mentorship of Max Ginsburg and the support of fellow artists. In 2013, he relocated to Mexico to teach yoga while continuing to paint landscapes and the human figure, exhibiting his work in various galleries and completing portrait commissions.

In 2018, Janzel underwent a series of life-changing experiences with medicine men from Mexico’s Indigenous communities. These encounters inspired him to fully embrace his creative path and focus on art that explores nature, life and death, and the timeless human quest for inner discovery—a journey shaped by wonder, mystical insight, healing, life, death and hope.