{"id":5466,"date":"2021-10-13T17:13:54","date_gmt":"2021-10-13T17:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pagodared.com\/blog\/?p=5466"},"modified":"2023-03-17T17:34:08","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T17:34:08","slug":"almudena-rodriguez-magical-ambiguity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pagodared.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/13\/almudena-rodriguez-magical-ambiguity\/","title":{"rendered":"Almudena Rodriguez: Magical Ambiguity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almudena Rodriguez\u2019s paintings have long been PAGODA RED favorites \u2014 in part, because each is a rich, imagery-laden universe filled with evocative meanings. In her work, preconceived boundaries evaporate and a riotous blend of pop culture graphics, multilingual vocabulary, religious iconography and myth emerges. A disaffected couple embrace as an acrobat soars past, a lone blue eyeball peers out beneath a cloud of hot-air balloons, and words in Braille rise from the canvas. The paintings stir the subconscious, sparking reflections on everything from the self to dreams to information in the digital age.<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Pygmalion Effect XXX”<\/a> by Almudena Rodriguez<\/p><\/div>\n

For Rodriguez, the viewer\u2019s experience with ambiguity is a crucial part of her work. In a conversation with PAGODA RED, she told us that each of her paintings is \u201can external reality that will be recreated by the viewer, and this is what I am interested in: how people decode images and how individual experiences impact impressions and perceptions of my work.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rodriguez’s interest in the artist-viewer relationship was the catalyst for her acclaimed<\/span> Pygmalion Effect<\/em> series,\u00a0which draws its name “from the popular psychological idea that greater expectations lead to greater performance.” For her, the series \u201cis about the way artists can influence a viewer’s perception.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Paintings by Almudena Rodriguez in Betsy Nathan’s home<\/p><\/div>\n

In person, the paintings are beautifully textured \u2014 Rodriguez incorporates clothing, blankets, towels, lace, and metal grommets. She begins each painting \u201cwith scraps of fabrics, already stamped and sometimes also already used, which I sew by hand with the intention of getting closer to the canvas and deeper into the artwork.\u201d Rodriguez noted that \u201cthe different tactile qualities layered on each canvas encourage our eyes to travel around the painting and generate many interpretations of what they find.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Pygmalion Effect XXVI”<\/a> by Almudena Rodriguez<\/p><\/div>\n

This artisanal construction allows Rodriguez to \u201cform a kind of map of my experiences and observations: my own vision.\u201d Once the pieces are sewn, she paints over the borders and seams, destroying the \u201cmap\u201d of her work, while maintaining its tactile qualities. Rodriguez said that \u201cthe destruction is maybe the most personal and intimate moment to me, and from there the images begin to emerge.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rodriguez shared, \u201cI allow the paint to behave naturally. Then I take pictures of the result and begin to work on the image on a computer, creating small stages on which the images may begin a dialogue and then allowing the painting to lead the way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Pygmalion Effect VI”<\/a> by Almudena Rodriguez<\/p><\/div>\n

The collision of languages and cultural iconography in each painting is highly intentional. Rodriguez is Spanish and currently resides in Madrid, but has lived in both the United States and Mexico in a purposeful effort to deepen and expand on her work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These international moves have been impactful: \u201cI have been nourished by such different cultures; the questioning of \u2018identity\u2019 is a constant in my work as a result of this… I believe that living in a different country and leaving your comfort zone changes you as a human being, you experience a broader context, you perceive other people in a different way and mostly you can perceive yourself from another perspective, from an essential distance needed to be able to understand and contextualize yourself in a globalized world.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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A collection of paintings by Almudena Rodriguez\u00a0at a 2022 show in our Chicago gallery<\/p><\/div>\n

For PAGODA RED founder Betsy Nathan, the magic of these paintings lies in the confluence of imagery that arises from Rodriguez\u2019s global perspective. As Betsy notes, \u201cthese paintings are experiences. You can almost hear the painted musical notes, feel the Braille, and lose yourself among pointillist maps and superheroes. Through these dreamscapes, Almudena Rodriguez takes us on a philosophical journey through globalization, pop culture, the non-stop cacophony of the internet, and our ever-shifting ideas of identity.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Pygmalion Effect XXVII”<\/a> by Almudena Rodriguez<\/p><\/div>\n

Learn more about Almudena Rodriguez and her work here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Almudena Rodriguez<\/p><\/div>\n

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