NANCY RODRIGO
statement
“Since 1981 I have utilized many mediums to express my visions of alternative worlds. As primarily an oil painter, I have explored old master technique, acrylic and watercolors. My early work was done in oils and expressed coming out as a married lesbian mom at age 25. Some paintings are bright and vaginal in imagery, other work is of ornately dressed Tudor dressed white women, wandering dark empty halls of a castle. It’s a flip on the princess archetype; about women’s isolation, fear and oppression. In the 1990’s I became fascinated with found objects, and created a body of work, that is homage to the 20th century. Using antique photographs, I built compositions with paints, drawing and objects, like weaving a tapestry.
My recent works are constructions of wood and mounted on canvas. The work explores family dynamics, Feminism, LGBTQ/gender issues, illness, war and climate change. Since 2010 I have been using watercolors to explore biomorphic imagery and interconnectedness of living organisms. These pieces speak to our own physiology and how we are interdependent with all things on our planet and universe. 2015-2017 I experienced several personal losses, close friends died, and the political situation began to unravel. In response, I’m drawing and painting detailed studies of physiological structures; bones, branches, membranes, with hidden images that draw the viewer closer in, because what we see is never clearly always true. It is this work that I feel defines me now as surrealist.” –Nancy Rodrigo
work
