Meet Patricio Rodriguez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Patricio Rodriguez.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am originally from Havana, Cuba, but I currently live in Miami. When I was a child, I used to draw for hours. I also enjoyed making my own toys. In the early ’90s, I started in the school of arts, where I did my secondary education. I’m grateful to the teachers I had because they helped me to see things differently. They taught me to be confident and to develop my potential as an artist from very early.

In 1995, I went to study at ‘San Alejandro’s Academy of Visual Arts’ in Havana. While I was there, I had the chance to explore other styles and techniques, but the ‘graphic arts’ were always the ones that I felt most connected with. San Alejandro’s gave me the opportunity to enhance my skills in ‘engraving’ and finding my own style. After finishing my studies in 1999, I started to work from home as an independent artist.

In February of 2000, I had my first exhibition in Cuba, following this success I started to exhibit my work more often around the country. Just after this period, my work began to travel outside of Cuba. This was possible thanks to the invitations that I got from ‘art curators’ based in France, Mexico and the United States of America.

In 2007, I visited Monterrey, Mexico. I quickly engaged with other artists. I wanted to make an effort and understand their works because I knew we had had different life experiences, so I felt intrigued to know more about it. I noticed the existence of an ‘artistic movement’ and I wanted to be part of it. I began to work with local artists and some galleries. This helped me to carry on exhibiting my work, and having new experiences such as doing collective exhibitions, art fairs and in museums.

After seven years in Monterrey, my family and I decided to make some changes and we moved to the US looking for new opportunities for all of us. I knew I was leaving behind a wonderful culture, friends, and country, but I had to think of the future of my family. I wanted to give them a better life. I don’t regret to be living in Miami for the last five years. This city has become mine and my family’s new home.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being a father and a husband and at the same time keeping up with my work as an artist has helped me to grow and mature, although I still find a big challenge to do all at the same time. The good thing is that I carry on working, and I still feel that I am still learning about myself and about my work. It is difficult to place your own voice in the art world, but it is not impossible. The constant challenge keeps me going.

The fast world with the constant changes that I am facing every day in my life, and I mean it in terms of the highly competitive market that exists out there, the rapid changes in technology and the arts itself are factors that an artist cannot ignore. The ‘market demand’ vs ‘the visual artist’, and ‘social media’ on the other hand have reached unsuspected standards. I said this because it seems to me when some new opportunities are opening, others seem to be closing. Also, the binaries “quality work” vs. “mediocrity work” is getting more questionable than ever before. I find it all very difficult to work under these conditions, but again this just challenge that a contemporary artist is having these days. This won’t become an excuse for me to stop me doing what I most love to do. I working hard to be adaptable in the current landscape. What other choice have I? I profoundly believe that the artist has the duty to make from his artwork an important tool, and turning this into a challenging key to whatever is out there claiming the opposite.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Each piece that I create is an extension of my past, an extension of what I have learned. Also, it’s an extension of what I’m learning and what I will be learning as a preview of my future.

You can see in my work many of the traditional Chinese cut- paper methods. I use the cut-paper technique with deep respect towards this millenary heritage, but returning it in a context and in a contemporary proposal. My principal medium is paper, but I use wood, plastic, and metal. My tools are the blades, and time because time is a treasure. It’s an important relationship that I established. In my work, one can notice the fragility in it, and I use this as the main concept.

In the creative process of my work, I think of the human being and the natural environment that surrounds me as an intimate space. This space is combined with dreams and hope, fear and limitations. When I cut an image is a way of celebrating hope and the cheerful aspects of human life. True art embodies the zeitgeist, reflecting the spirit of its time. My art is simultaneously amusing and mysterious, as is the triumph of miracle over misery.

What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
I had various beautiful moments in my career, but there is a special one. I always remember with joy. My family and I were going through hard times, and while it was very difficult I still carried on working on a series of pieces and I made them all in a time record. This was highlighted the day I graduated from ‘San Alejandro’s Academy of Fine Arts’ with honors. Still, in the present days, this event makes feel proud of myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.patriciorodriguez.gallery/
• Phone: 7864868422
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @patricutart
• Facebook: patricio ernesto rodriguez anuez

Image Credit:
“Calacas 6″( from the series: ” La exposicion de las calacas”, 2016
Mixed, Hand-cut paper, spray on cardboard.
24 x 28 inches
by Patricio Rodriguez

“Rostros 1 “( from the series: ” Viejos Conocidos”), 2015
Mixed, Hand-cut on cardboard.
40 x 26 inches
by Patricio Rodriguez

“Rostros 17 “( from the series: ” Viejos Conocidos”), 2015
Mixed, Hand-cut on cardboard.
28 x 40 inches
by Patricio Rodriguez

“Adentro- Inside, 2013
Mixed, Hand-cut, spray on cardboard.
80 x 112 inches
by Patricio Rodriguez

“Brain # 1, 2014
Mixed, fredwork wood.
39 inches diameter
by Patricio Rodriguez

“Steps”, 2014
Mixed, fredwork wood.
39 inches diameter
by Patricio Rodriguez

“Untitled”, 2017
Mixed, spray, Hand-cut on cardboard.
39 x 39 inches
by Patricio Rodriguez

“El olvido es peor que la muerte, 2015
Mixed, spray, Hand-cut on cardboard.
55 x 110 inches
by Patricio Rodriguez

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