The work of painter, watercolorist and sculptor RamoÌn Rodriguez will be featured during an artist reception at Sasha’s— Living with Style boutique, 3237 E. Broadway, on Saturday, Oct. 17 from 6pm to 9pm.
Commissioned by the nonprofit Cesar Chavez Foundation, the nonprofit playground organization KaBoom! and journalist Maria Shriver, Rodriguez created a mural celebrating the life of Cesar Chavez that was replicated in 30 cities in California, according to Sasha’s. Rodriguez was selected to be the first artist-in-residence at the American Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia. One of his first sculptures after he finished art school, “Christos Rotos,” won the national grand prize in Bolivia. His work has been shown in a dozen museums in two continents, including at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach.
Rodriguez was born and raised deep in the Bolivian Andes. He spent his childhood farming, tending to animals and developing a reverence for nature and Bolivian culture.
“I remember as a 3-year-old, gathering stones of different colors and drawing on adobe walls,” Rodriguez writes in his artist statement. “I climbed luscious trees and cliffs of red and orange hues observing the divine art of Pacha Mama, Mother Earth. I could not resist.”
Rodriguez moved to Long Beach over a decade ago. Migrating from a landlocked country to a city overlooking the ocean provided a new context for the artist, who had never seen the ocean.
“When we first moved here from Bolivia, water themes started appearing in my work,” he said. “I love the natural beauty [in Long Beach] as well as the cultural diver- sity. Meeting people from all around the world has been eye-opening and enriching.”
The move to Long Beach also
shaped a sense of duality within Rodriguez. Living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world in comparison to his childhood in a tiny, isolated village in Bolivia were quite different experiences.
“Dualities and struggles coexist within each of us,” he said. “In my journey as an artist, I attempt to harmonize these dualities, to create a dialogue between extremes. In the process of exploring duality, I try to capture the magic and beauty of the culture of my ancestors, the Incas. Through my work, I not only express that which compels me, I nourish myself with the energy of the landscapes, the power of the culture, the wisdom and determination of my ancestors.”
