50th Anniversary Artist Interview
Rodriguez Calero
21 September 2004
The image is there and then it’s not. Rodriguez Calero’s work is filled with elements that occupy space in shifting and surprising ways. At first glance, forms fill a recognizable role. But the more you look at the work, the more the forms seem to shift and slide, doing double and triple duty in setting up the space, the balance, and more important, the expressive content. Her work is made up of what she calls, “Compositions of the human figure, breaking, decomposing and rearranging, creat(ing) a puzzle of sorts, which is complex and fascinating like human nature.”
Rodriguez Calero has developed a painting approach that she calls “Acrollage,” a process that is a dynamic mix of painting, chine collé, printmaking, and collage. The work is technically facile and intriguing. She is, without doubt, getting the very most out of what acrylics have to offer: the adhesive qualities for collage, the range of optical properties for painting, as well as a variety of working properties used for texture and transfer. More than that, however, the work is emotionally rich and spiritually potent.
Her paintings are being shown extensively in the Northeast and the west, and we had to time our interview with her around a trip and a show in Puerto Rico.
We spent a day with Rodriguez Calero, speaking about her work (evocative), her process (dynamic), her studio (packed), her materials (acrylic), her neighborhood (kinetic), and her unfailing sense of design.
Liquitex: Looking around your studio, it’s obvious that you have an absolutely fabulous eye for placement and design. All the little bits, like that little framed piece over there on that unfinished wall… (a small, delicately framed image had been hung in a position perfectly balanced with the exposed electrical conduits and an outlet covered old paint, the color of faded mint. It all worked -- a little jewel of art assemblage.)
Rodriguez Calero: I have to tell you, a friend wanted me to use the electrical outlets that were left over here and I said, “No, put up the old green one.” And he said, “Why?” And I said, “Because it’s beautiful.”
Liquitex: I was also absolutely knocked out by the little square, rectilinear ceramic piece which is on the back of the toilet. It’s a nice piece. But in that spot, it goes from being nice to being perfect.
RC: Are you talking about the vase? I found that in the street.
Liquitex: Did you really? Are you serious?
RC: You wouldn’t believe what I find on the street in the neighborhood. I found that with a 12-piece Cuisinart, in perfect condition, along with stained glass – some little windows and a stained glass jar.
Here, the conversation took a long, looping tour of the neighborhood. There were discursive stops at the Cuban coffee shop (where a sublime, Starbucks-whuppin’ Latte costs a buck), the furniture store, and everywhere in between. Finally, we made it back to art…
Liquitex: Let’s talk about the work. Your paintings work on lots of different levels – the form, the color, the imagery – not to mention the social and the spiritual. What is it that interests you the most in the work?
RC: I’m not searching for any set formula or element when working. I use my instincts to guide me. I’m asking, “Is the image balanced?” I’m looking for some way to express this vocabulary of formal, spiritual and cultural elements.
Liquitex: Where does that instinct come from?
RC: It comes basically from exposure. Being exposed to things and just assimilating with everything (laughing).
Liquitex: Does that mean that all the different elements that show up within your work come about just because you get out? You’re out in the streets and you’re looking for stuff and you’re participating in the community and you’ve taken the time to figure out who makes the best coffee in the neighborhood. That rich relationship with your community shows up in your work. Is that a reasonable reflection on what you are doing?
RC: I think that says it. It’s basically just keeping yourself open and aware and interacting.
Liquitex: Your work walks an interesting and provocative line using representational elements, but the imagery is assembled so that it works on a deeply abstract level as well. How does that happen? Are you consciously looking for images that help you transcend representation?
RC: I’m not consciously looking because that would be too complicated. The work is an extension of myself. It’s parallel. So, as I become more identifiable I just feel like I’m part of everything.
Liquitex: What do you mean when you say when you become more “identifiable?”
RC: Well, maybe because I felt I never really had an identity. So the work is important to make myself become more solid instead of just (unfocused) energy.
Liquitex: So the work acts as a clarifying element for you, personally, helping you become more identifiable. And there’s a circular reflection in that, not only does the art have identity and presence, but the work helps you to clarify yourself? Is that right?
RC: Yeah.
Liquitex: What a great way to look at your process. So, what led you to become an artist?
RC: I wish I had a wonderful story to tell you, but it was really by accident and, in hindsight, fate. I became ill when I was a teenager and moved to Puerto Rico. There was a language barrier and, being told that I was artistic, I went to the art school. I was fortunate to meet an incredible artist, Lorenzo Homar, and I studied printmaking. He gave me a tremendous base. When my health improved, I came back to New York and I studied at the Art Students League for both painting and collage. Looking back, in hindsight, I feel like there were guiding forces. I was just blessed to become an artist.
Liquitex: Is there something universal you can point to that leads people to art?
RC: It’s communication, to be able to communicate something that we can’t put into words. That’s why I do it.
Liquitex: Are you teaching?
RC: No (laughing). No, I’m not teaching. I’m laughing because I went to an astrologer and he told me I should be a teacher. I don’t know yet. It might occur.
Liquitex: I asked because you have a very strong command of your technique and the mechanics. That’s one of many things that would be nice to pass along.
RC: But I don’t! I really don’t. I don’t even know how I do this! I used to have this studio partner and she would say “Oh, watching Rodriguez Calero paint is like watching grass grow!” I think I’m just constantly stumbling along, so it’s always new and refreshing to me. All of a sudden you just sort of get up and you go “boom” and you do it. Then I distract myself and I do something else. I don’t have any sense of technique.
Liquitex: Can you talk with us about how you first began to work with this type of imagery.
RC: I think the imagery really comes, once again, from my identity. I find through my art, people approach me more easily but on a different level. I don’t like to have my picture taken with my work because I think my art speaks for itself. I think the imagery was just a way, I think, maybe to make myself more approachable.
Liquitex: Do you look for well-known or recognizable images? Over there, I see on that painting… (pointing to a work that includes forms that could be drawn from religious icons)
RC: Don’t go there. Nope, don’t even go there! I look for imagery that is so common that anyone who views the painting will think, “I know that person.”
Liquitex: Painters walk a tightrope. There are times that you have to exercise tight control and then there are times where you just want to say, “Okay, let it find its own way.” And you pour it and let it go and trust that it will find its own way far better than when you try to lead it…
RC: In any situation, you don’t want to control anything. You want to stay open and fluid. You have to know when to walk away and you have to know when to come back and continue.
Liquitex: So how do you figure that out?
RC: You don’t figure it out. You just have a certain sensibility and the willingness to ask, “Am I pushing it? Am I just depending on technique?” Because that can be crippling. You just know. I’ve had people say, “Oh, that’s it, don’t do any more!” Then I know I have to go back and do more. You have to be really sincere in what you are doing.
Liquitex: And true to the piece.
RC: True to yourself.
Liquitex: Why you are using those acrylics? Can you talk some about the role the materials play in what you’re making?
RC: It’s a simple answer. Basically, I wouldn’t have been painter if it wasn’t for acrylic paint.
Liquitex: Why?
RC: I couldn’t have developed the style of painting without the use of acrylics. It’s permitted me to create like no other medium and yet incorporate other mediums with ease and sensibility. Not only am I painting, but I’m printing, I’m glazing, I’m doing collage, I’m drawing, so I’ve incorporated everything that other mediums have but yet I’m able to do it through the acrylics. So, I’m happy. And I mean that sincerely. You know, it just permits you to stumble and search and experiment and walk away and come back when you’re ready.
Liquitex: What’s the most fun for you in your work?
RC: The accidents and surprise factor. Sometimes you think you’re doing one thing and, surprise, something totally unexpected has occurred. So you just sort of go with it. You shift gears and you just take it to the other level and that’s the fun factor.
Liquitex: What are the biggest challenges?
RC: The biggest challenge is to push the work and not rely on your technical ability. To have the confidence to eliminate a good thing in order to create a great thing.
Liquitex: That takes guts.
RC: It takes a lot of breathing. A lot of breathing (laughing).
Liquitex: If you could wave a magic wand and invent a new material or process, what would it be?
RC: Hmm. I have to think about that. (Pause) Actually, I don’t think I would want a magic wand. There’s always magic in creating. That’s what art is! I wouldn’t change that for anything.
