Out of Sight, Out of Mind
In large-scale collages and mixed-media sculpture, Abel Rodriguez explores exploding and imploding forms, progress and destruction, and how the perception of these conditions can be shaped by what is visible or hidden. Rodriguez, who received his MFA at Yale in painting and printmaking, is interested in the sculptural aspect of painting, describing his 2-D collages, which incorporate found photos, negative space from magazine advertisements, and drawings, as “skins” for his sculptural forms. Some sculptures are free-standing, while others maintain a relationship with the wall and their painterly lineage. Collages and sculptures are exhibited together as pairs, bound visually through perspective, line, and color.
Implicit in Rodriguez’s work is the idea of mutability. He describes fragments of objects as “words that can be negotiated, arranged and rearranged into endless visual and communicative statements,” and he has approached the things he has gathered from the Public Disposal and Recycling Area in this manner, deconstructing and reconstructing, ordering and shifting. Rodriguez embraces change through his working process as well as through his use of materials, such as tape, which allows for quick modification and restructuring. Even finalized sculptural forms still express the potential to shift, morph, or be perceived in new contexts.
In large-scale collages and mixed-media sculpture, Abel Rodriguez explores exploding and imploding forms, progress and destruction, and how the perception of these conditions can be shaped by what is visible or hidden. Rodriguez, who received his MFA at Yale in painting and printmaking, is interested in the sculptural aspect of painting, describing his 2-D collages, which incorporate found photos, negative space from magazine advertisements, and drawings, as “skins” for his sculptural forms. Some sculptures are free-standing, while others maintain a relationship with the wall and their painterly lineage. Collages and sculptures are exhibited together as pairs, bound visually through perspective, line, and color.
Implicit in Rodriguez’s work is the idea of mutability. He describes fragments of objects as “words that can be negotiated, arranged and rearranged into endless visual and communicative statements,” and he has approached the things he has gathered from the Public Disposal and Recycling Area in this manner, deconstructing and reconstructing, ordering and shifting. Rodriguez embraces change through his working process as well as through his use of materials, such as tape, which allows for quick modification and restructuring. Even finalized sculptural forms still express the potential to shift, morph, or be perceived in new contexts.