Rodrigo Lara

Lives and works in Chicago, IL, USA

Artist statement

I create memorials--fragmented and complex memories that break from the traditional forms of bronze statues at historical sites or iconography in churches. In the way that Italian futurists like Umberto Boccioni recreated the human form to remark on the changing speed of contemporary lifestyles; or Charlie Parker introduced polyrhythms to interrupt his jazz compositions, my sculptures maintain their portrait qualities while complicating the body’s shape and purpose in relation our fragmented memories. My fascination is with the way that memory—with its inherently ever-changing fluidity—disrupts our ability to truthfully freeze or memorialize people and perspectives in history. Instead, these splintered glimpses drive our complicated understanding of the present. I present an assemblaged version of our collective thoughts, concerns, and hopes. My work also relates to my direct experiences growing up in the Catholic church, around its icons, monumental architectural forms, and stories. I incorporate the same short-lived materials as can be found in Mexican cemeteries: cans, mosaic tiles, plastic plants, artificial turf, ceramics, metal, stone, and wood. Clay, however, solidifies and preserves its form after firing, potentially lasting some 27,000 years or more. My works are future artifacts, like the black ceramic Venus of Dolní Věstonice. But, their remnants will be in various states of decay and preservation, much like our memories. My music-based explorations similarly...

Artwork