2017, Uncle Sam 100 X 21 X 14 in Tia Catrina 96 X 24 X 24 in, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Oxide
Installation image. Figures from the sanctuary series presented in my hometown and border city of El Paso Texas at the Rubin Arts Center. Uncle Sam and Tia Catrina are equal but different figures guarding the entrance to the exhibition and acting as representatives of the US/Mexico border.
2018, 100 x 60 x 60 in, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Unglazed
An Altar is made up of 4 tiers with the foundation being the elements (wind, water, fire, earth), the second level is primitive instinct (wolf and lion), third level is faith and death, and the crown is people and community. Permanent Collection of University of Texas El Paso.
2018, 84 x 60 x 30 in, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Oxide
Immigrant depiction based on Grant Wood's American Gothic with female figure as a hotel maid and male figure as a field worker. Tiled Background as landscape. Permanent Collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
2020, 6 x 6 x 8 ft, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Oxide
Gathering Altar installed at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia. Over 1000 tiles surround the Aztec god of Death. Installed during the height of the Covid-19 lockdown. People could make and leave clay offerings. Even though we were by ourselves we are not alone. The offerings would be slacked down and returned to the earth on Da de Muertos.
2020, 62 x 36 x 36 in , Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Oxide
Large funerary urn with a self-portrait and the seven deadly sins. Permanent collection of the NationalMuseum in Stockholm Sweden as part of an American Crafts collection.
2021, 28 x 12 x 28 in, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Oxide
2023, 8 x 7 x 30 ft, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Unglazed
2023, 77 x 23 x 20 in, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Oxide
The body is decorated with images of Venado Azul (spiritual core) Quetzalcoatl (life force), Jaguar and Xolo (strength and compassion) and Eagle and Rooster (celestial and earthly), animals important to the mythologies of the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec cultures. The figure stands engaging the outside world with its mouth agape, holding a vessel made in a traditional Oaxacan pottery. In an homage to mentors and ancestors, ancient and contemporary, the vessel holds clay named for Rodriguez's mentor Akio Takamori.
2023, 85 x 22 x 28 in, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Oxide
Free standing figure with multiple faces and heads that represent the guarding our different
2024, 108 x 36 x 26 in, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Oxide
Outdoor sculpture greeting visitors near the entrance of The Clay Studio of Philadelphia. The figure is carrying three vessels representative of the communities where the new clay studio building is located.
Artist Statement
I work with an ancient material to address my contemporary experience. Through the creation of guardian figures, tomb sculptures, and shrines, I depict my community current and forthcoming. I hope to bring these objects—ancient relics that transcend time—into the present. They carry hope and loss, acceptance and challenge, ornament and simplicity.
I am a visual artist and ceramic sculptor who draws on inspiration from my Mexican American upbringing and experience with global travel. Visualized with ornament, humor and reverence for cultural celebration, my art builds bridges between cultures and connections to the past, present, and future. I draw visual inspiration from Funk Ceramics, Pre-Columbian statuary and a variety of festivals. I’m drawn to stories that carry a moral narrative and colorful cast of characters. I take these external influences and mix them together with my personal and cultural histories to create a new representation of myself and the world around me.
I love decoration! I enjoy how heavy decoration can seem parasitic, yet it beckons to be adored and looked at. The more intently you look, the more rewarding it will be. As James Trilling writes in his book, The Language of Ornament, decoration’s sole purpose is to give pleasure. I want my art to be pleasurable. I also want my art to be a conduit for connection.
Clay is a material uniquely tactile and malleable. I utilize this material for its versatility, cultural significance, and resiliency. Clay allows me to work intuitively and rapidly as I attempt to translate my ideas into something tangible. Even as my interests have been expanding to include public sculpture and the creation of communal gathering spaces, clay is a material that is easily translated into, concrete, bronze, aluminum, and durable tile. This versatility allows me to continue to find ways to be challenged.
Bio
Born and raised in the border city of El Paso, TX, George Rodriguez creates highly ornamented, ceramic sculptures, often underlined by a connection to sociopolitical themes. His guardian figures, tomb sculptures, and installations, commemorate and build community. His most recent projects include a permanent installation at the new Kansas City International Airport, a community tile mural at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, and an outdoor public sculpture at CASA of Maryland, an immigration advocacy organization in Baltimore. His sculptures are part of the collections of the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C., and the National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden amongst others. Rodriguez holds a BFA from the University of Texas El Paso and an MFA from the University of Washington, Seattle. He is an Assistant Professor in Ceramics at The Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia.