July 9, 2023
by Zyanya Gallegos
Isis Rodriguez is a world renown San Miguel artist who paints contemporary mythology for a modern world. She fuses modern concepts with pre-Hispanic traditions to create art works that provoke important discussions around history, culture, and gender. She will be launching 10 new paintings inspired by a new archetype, the teenage Quinceañera. She will be having an Open Studio called, "Majestic" on Saturday July 15th at 4:00pm to unveil her newest works.
In this interview, I decided to push some buttons and probe Isis about her reasons for creating a new series based on the Quinceañera .
Q: What is a Quinceañera ?
A: The Spanish word, "quince" means fifteen. When girl turns 15 in Latin cultures, she is considered a woman. Families will oftentimes have a special event to present her into the community as a woman. This event is called a Quinceañera where there are several rituals that take place, a blessing, a changing of the shoes, El Vals, which is a Waltz, Danza de la Muñeca, to name a few.
Q: Why did you choose the Quinceañera as your new archetype?
A: I am attracted to beauty, empowerment, and change. I love to capture the moment when a change takes place in a person's life. The Quinceañera is an event put on by the family of the 15-year-old girl to signify her transformation from girl to womanhood which signals she will be taking on more responsibilities.
Q: Did you know that the Quinceañera has its roots to the Spanish conquest?
A: Yes, everything about the event is European. The ball gowns, the Waltz, and the church. However, according to Professor of Ethnohistory and Anthropology, Alejandro Díaz Barriga Cuevas, the Indigenous empires of the Americas already had their rituals to signal the different stages of a child's growth into adulthood. The Nahuas had a process of rituals that included ear piercing, the stretching of the body to grow, and their kids were given pulque, a pre-Hispanic fermented alcoholic drink. These events included dances and parties. Gold was allowed only for the aristocratic classes.
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Q: I see that you are now using computer generated art instead of paintings. This is a new shift for you because you have always been a traditional oil painter.
A: Actually, I have always used computer generated art to help me compose my paintings. I use Photoshop to do all my digital collages.
Q: Why do you continue to paint realistic, now that we have computers and AI that can replace artists like you, like the open-source app, Mid Journey?
A: Lol… In the 90's we had this similar conversation that Photoshop and CGI would replace painting and traditional art. It still hasn't. I think most contemporary artists like me, regard technology as a tool and not a style to sell like commercial artists.
Technology wants to become the new conquistador and tame human beings and nature. But nature will always win over mankind. Technology cannot reproduce a tree as all the leaves of a tree are unique and never the same. Same can be said about art. As an artist, the digital collage is just a guide. But when I begin the painting, I will immediately begin correcting it and making it into nature. My goal is for the painting to be like nature, so nothing is repeated. Nature is truth. Technology is manipulative.
Q: Have you tried Mid Journey?
A: Yes. You must train the program to understand your needs. It's called "a prompt". And if you don't ask it the right question using certain words that are said in a specific sentence, you end up with very mediocre results. Also, AI cannot understand irony nor sarcasm.
Q: How do you know that AI cannot understand irony nor sarcasm? The developers say that it will surpass us in intelligence.
A: I know this, because some of my controversial art gets censored by AI police bots that are looking for hate speech, child pornography and violent propaganda on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, etc. They are always getting confused by some of my paintings which are ironic and sarcastic, especially my older works from my series CRUSH! and Legends from the Realm of Nepantla.
Q: Why are you doing an Open Studio instead of an art exhibit, like you have done before?
A: An open studio in my opinion, is more important than the art exhibit. The reason is that everyday people can visit and see the process of how I work instead of just the finished works, which creates a myth about the artist. The myth is that the artist is a wizard that creates magical and perfect paintings. When people come to the open studio, they will see the struggle, the imperfections, which is the authenticity of the artist. And in seeing me as just a human being, they won't be so intimidated by art.
Q. Yes, I do see your art as intimidating. I mean it's so good. It's like an expectation that I cannot live up to.
A: Why do you feel that way?
Q. Well, for people like me that can't even draw a stick figure, seeing your art blows my mind, I don't think it would be possible for me to learn how to do it.
A: I can't tell you how many people walk into my studio and say, things, like "I'll never be able to paint like you" or "you are too good to take a class with." But the whole point of being an artist is to create from within and define yourself on your terms.
Q. San Miguel has tons of events happening on the weekends. Why should I choose your event over the others?
A: Well, there are little to no paintings that have been done about the Quinceañera. In fact, there is a lot of misinformation about this important ritual. I will be unveiling about 10 to 12 new ideas that represent the most powerful parts of this custom that reflect the history of puberty rituals going back to our ancestors. Also, the archetypes are designed to reflect current trends and attitudes of Zoomer teenagers and how parents are raising their kids. My open studio will be a cross cultural experience that bridges the gap between ancient and modern Mexico. And it's free to the public.
www.isisrodriguez.com/
www.patreon.com/isisrodriguez
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Majestic Open Studio and Art Tour by Isis Rodriguez
Saturday July 15, 4pm, Galeria Nepantla
Pablo Yañez 9, Colonia Independencia
Reserve. Space Limited.
www.isisrodriguez.com/exhibits-isis-rodriguez
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Zyanya Gallegos studied Communication and Digital Media and in the process fell in love with the world of publicity. She has been working as a Social Media Manager in San Miguel de Allende and Querétaro for more than three years. She loves helping people, animals, culture, art and learning new things.
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