Martha Rodriguez

I call myself an urban folk artist, and my calling has come after careers in social welfare and education. Attending college during the student movements of the 1970's, the pride and rich history of my Chicano / Mexicano ancestors became an integral part of my life. My craft has been self-taught, greatly influenced by my life as a native Californian, urban dweller and child of 60s pop. I'm also drawn to the decade of the 1940's: from pinups to fashion and films, and the people and culture of New Orleans.

I am a painter, mixed media artist, installation artist (create altars for Day of the Dead) and design icon-image jewelry.  I enjoy crossing the lines of all mediums and incorporating them into my varied work.

Over the years, some of the artists I've found most influential have been the Mexican muralists of the early 20th century, as well as the work of American innovator Andy Warhol. Raised in the Mexican-American Baptist church, I am fascinated by Catholic religious icons, whose spectacle of pain, blood and tears in the ornate stylization of its churches seemed exotic and forbidding.

I've found the combination of Warhol-style pop with a Chicano/Latino aesthetic to be a very comfortable fit for my work. My color palette is rich in primary colors, with scarlet red being dominant.  I have always used recycled and found materials and enjoy the process of re-imagining a faded object into a shining, new statement.