Coralina Rodriguez Meyer
Miami <> BK
Coralina Rodriguez Meyer is an indigenous Latinx (Muisca Inca), Colombian American artist, architect and community organizer based in Miami FL and Brooklyn NY.
Message
Coralina Rodriguez Meyer is a Brooklyn & Miami based, mixed race indigenous Andina American (Muisca/Inca) artist & urban designer. Born in the Everglades swamp and raised queer between Homestead, FL and the Caribbean, she spent half her life in NYC before returning to Miami to birth her daughter Zaita whose name means the beginning of time and the “umbligo” origin of the world. Spanning 20 years and 30 countries, Coralina’s Quipucamayoc (culture keeper) practice spans urban design, documentary sculpture, moving images and immersive installations created in collaboration with social & environmental justice leaders and her Q+BIPOC community. Her direct action activism, art, architecture, and archive work transgressing structural violence in American Mythology, is a performance of citizenship to engage her vulnerable barrio in building civic agency. While designing/building skyscrapers or hospitality projects locally and internationally, Coralina founded Lambastic community organizing collective (2005-2011). She was on the board of Retreet America, and is a current board member of Period Market and ¡Solar Libre! She was a professor of architecture at Florida International University and has been a guest critic at University of Miami, Pratt Institute & Parsons School of Design. Coralina was a recent artist & scholar in residence at Miami Dade College Koubek Center, researching the Kislak Americas collection at Miami Dade College and University of Miami. Her current research in the Jackson collection at University of Maryland will culminate in a Fall solo exhibition & publication at UMD opening September 2023.
Coralina studied painting at Maryland Institute College of Art and anthropology at John’s Hopkins before completing her Architecture BFA at Parsons School of Design, New School University. After completing her MFA in Combined Media at Hunter College CUNY in 2013, she received awards from Foundation for Contemporary Art, Oolite Arts, Kennedy Center VSA Arts, South Arts, NYFA, National Association of Latino Arts & Culture and Young Arts. Coralina was a resident of Mildred's Lane and the Bronx Museum AIM program. She was a research fellow at the Museo de Sitio Machu Picchu Peru connecting Quipu social structures to US American iconography, at Syracuse University Florence Italy excavating Italian fascist architecture and Universitat der Kunst Berlin investigating Nazi utopian urban design with Hito Steyerl. She has been featured in the NY Times, Village Voice, Hyperallergic, Univision, the Guardian, London Review of Books and Jezebel. Her work was exhibited at the Queens Museum, Bronx Museum, the Smithsonian Museum, Kunsthaus Bretanien Berlin, Contemporary Art Center New Orleans, KMAC Museum, Perez Art Museum Miami and the Corcoran. She has shown at AIR gallery, Bitforms, Andrew Edlin, Latchkey gallery and the NY Armory.
Coralina's current solo show on view September 13 - December 8, 2023 at University of Maryland is featured in Maryland Today combining her research in the Jackson collection archive of African fertility effigies with 2 centuries of reproductive health rituals from the Americas in an immersive exhibition of Mother Mold monuments, Linea Negra moving images & Mama Spa Botanica workshops. Their current solo feature for The Immigrant Artist Biennial NYC on view is highlighted in Cultbytes. Her 2021 solo show Unbearable Fruit at Bronx River Art Center, was reviewed in Hyperallergic and supported by grants from NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Young Arts, Oolite Arts and Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Coralina's 2022 Mama Spa Botanica solo show at the Colonial Florida Cultural Museum in Alapattah Miami FL transformed a pre and post colonial collection of 1000+ years of indigenous artifacts from the Americas owned by the Catholic church into a Mama Spa Botanica sanctuary including a site specific retablo of her Coralina Triptych Mother Mold monuments. Her 2023 solo show Voladores at Miami Dade College Koubek Center was a culmination of her year long artist scholar in residency, researching the Kislak Americas collection at University of Miami & Miami Dade College, awarded by Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, supported by grants from National Association of Latino Culture, Young Arts and Oolite Arts. Her upcoming solo show at University of Maryland combines Jackson collection archive research of African fertility effigies with 1000+ years of reproductive health rituals from the Americas in an immersive exhibition of Mother Mold monuments, Linea Negra moving images & Mama Spa Botanica workshops.
Statement
After my infertility diagnosis in 2008, I began documenting the inception of ranking systems in American mythology with the Linea Negra photographs & moving image series including the hemispheric melanin line appearing during pregnancy. In 2018 the project stretchmarked into the Mama Spa Botanica collaborative and the Mother Mold monuments when I became pregnant with my daughter (who I gave birth to during a tropical storm in Miami FL). Before creating my own Mother Mold pregnancy cast, I was informed by a hospital nurse that Miami had the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality for black and brown families globally and that I should consider donating my cord blood as a brown pregnant person. After creating a Mother Mold bivalve (lost wax) mummy cast of myself in the tradition of my Inca, Muisca & Moche ancestors (5k bce), I excavated archives, taught architecture, and advocated a matriarchal support infrastructure through community organizing that birthed the 2018 Mother Mold monuments project in collaboration with Jamaican full spectrum griot/doula Nicky Dawkins, environmental activists like climate activist/ herbalist/urban farmer Roger Horne of Urban Greenworks as well as my low income, immigrant, diasporic neighbors. I collaborate with reproductive justice leaders, climate advocates and procreative neighbors to create fertile habitats by, of and for Q+BIPOC families to transcend structural and domestic violence in American mythology. My immersive Foliage Obscura retablo installations offer Mother Mold monuments and Linea Negra photographs from the Mama Spa Botanica workshop - as immersive, multisensory, kinetic altars inspired by indigenous millenary rituals such as the fertility effigies preserved from Andean mummification to contemporary vernacular belly cast or memento mori practices involving waste based material collection. The project transforms white institutional walls into sanctuaries reflecting the neon rituals, fertile flora, and endangered fauna or activists vibrating in our Latinx & Caribbean diaspora matriarchal maps. Intimate ephemera, environmental waste & domestic construction materials are cast into fertility effigies, pregnant people, endangered species and activists by participants of the agency building Mama Spa Botanica workshops. Collaboratively created works are a monument to survivors of conflicting climate and reproductive health crisis in America with intersecting man-made and mother nature causes. The interdisciplinary Mama Spa Botanica delivers full spectrum cultural care while transgressing the texture and complexion of the American Castas system by strengthening social fabric, building advocacy, ancestral and artificial intelligence.
Contact
Coralina Meyer at gmail dot com
Born 1982 Everglades Homestead FL
Based in Miami & Brooklyn
Education
2013 Hunter College CUNY MFA Sculpture Combined Media New York NY
2011 Universitat Der Kunst Graduate Erasmus Hito Steyerl & Gregor Schneider Berlin DE
2004 Parsons School of Design The New School University BFA Architecture New York NY
2000-01 Maryland Institute College of Art BFA Painting major Baltimore MD
2000-01 John’s Hopkins University Anthrophology coursework Baltimore MD
2002 Syracuse University Architecture & Urban Design Undergraduate Erasmus Florence IT
2000 New World School of the Arts highschool, University of Florida Visual Arts dual enrollment Miami FL
Fellowships Residencies
2023 University of Miami Kislak Collection, Researcher in Residence Miami FL
2023 University of Maryland Jackson African Effigy Collection, Researcher in Residence Washington DC
2022-23 Miami Dade College Koubek Center Artist & Scholar in Residence Miami FL
2017 Bronx Museum AIM Residency Program New York NY
2012 Museo de Sitio Manuel Chavez Ballon Research Fellowship Machu Picchu Peru
Artist’s Institute Rosemarie Trockel Series Hunter College New York NY
2010 Mildred’s Lane Art Residency J Morgan Puett & Mark Dion Beach Lake PA
1998 Maryland Institute College of Art Pre-College Program Baltimore MD
Awards
2023 Latinx Art & Culture Grant National Association Latino Arts & Culture- National Fund for the Arts, San Antonio TX
Miami Individual Artist Grant Miami Dade County Department of Cultual Affairs, Miami FL
40 Under 40 Alumni Award President Jennifer Raab Hunter College NYC
Emergency Grant Young Arts Foundation Miami FL
2022 Ellies Exhibition Grant Oolite Arts Miami FL
MIA Stipend Artist Grant National Endowment for the Arts & Miami Dade Arts Culture FL
2022 South Arts Individual Career Grant FL Region South Arts Organization Atlanta GA
Artist Initiative Grant Greenspace Miami FL
2021 Exhibition Grant Young Arts Foundation Miami FL
Exhibition Grant New York Department of Cultural Affairs NYC
Emergency Grant Foundation for Contemporary Arts NYC
2020 Covid Relief Grant Foundation for Contemporary Arts NYC
Covid Relief Grant Locust Projects Miami FL
Artist Micro Grant National Young Arts Foundation Miami FL
Neon Arts Grant FEMILIA Taller Neon Carnegie Hall New York NY covid canceled
Exhibition Grant New York Department of Cultural Affairs NYC covid canceled
2019 Ellies Creator Grant Oolite Arts Miami FL
2016 NYFA Grant Finalist Architecture & Design New York Foundation for the Arts NY
2012 Graf Travel Grant Inca Urban Design & Khipus Hunter CUNY Peru
Williamsburg Park Architecture Competition Open Space Alliance Brooklyn NY
2011 Leutz Riedel Fellowship Nazi Utopian Architecture Hunter CUNY Berlin Germany
2006 Volkswagen Grant Recipient VSA Arts Washington DC
2002-04 Full Tuition Merit Scholarship Parsons The New School New York NY
2000-01 Full Tuition Merit Scholarship Maryland Institute College of Art Baltimore MD
2000 Scholastic Arts Award Silver Key Washington DC
Young Arts National Foundation for the Arts Visual Art Award Washington DC
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Miami Dade College Koubek Center Voladores Miami FL
University of Maryland Art Gallery Mother Molds Curated by Taras Matla & Melanie Nguyen Washington DC
Artist's Alliance, Cuchifritos Gallery Santuarios Gestion Desmadres The Immigrant Artist Biennial Curated by Ekstrand, Adams, Boragi NYC
2022 Colonial Florida Cultural Heritage Center Coralina Triptych Curated by Ray Zamora Miami FL
2021 Bronx River Art Center Unbearable Fruit Curated by Taylor Bradley NYC
2020 Whitebox Harlem Cunt Quilt Arpilleras Americanxs Curated by Juan Puntes NYC covid canceled
2012 Hunter College Times Square Gallery MFA Thesis Exhibition NYC
Group Exhibitions
2023 Penn State University Invisible Bodies Curated by Emireth Herrera Valdes & Jamie Martinez PA
Latchkey Gallery After Eden Curated by Molly Davy & Amanda Uribe NYC
Young Arts Gallery Megafauna: Land Dwellers Curated by Naomi Fisher Miami FL
2022 NYU Tisch Gallery Home: Reimagining Interiority Curated by Dr Morgan & Dr Willis NYC
Greenspace Miami ChromaTone Curated by Zee Lopez & Mireille Louis Charles Miami FL
Young Arts Home: Reimagining Interiority Curated by Dr Joan Morgan & Dr Deb Willis Miami FL
Vinegar Projects Embattled Bodies Curated by MSA Karlota Contreras-Koterbay Birmingham AL
2021 Contemporary Art Center NOLA Every Beautiful Thing Curated by D Morris New Orleans LA
Perez Art Museum Miami My Body My Rules Performance Curated by Jennifer Ignacio Miami FL
2020 University of Cincinnati DAAP Gallery Hindsight 2020 Curated by Fem Four Cleveland, OH
Hunter East Harlem Gallery Her Right to Know Curated by Kristen Clevenson NYC
2019 Mana Contemporary Collabo Show Curated by J Long & A Woodgate Miami, FL
2018 Queens Museum STEP Show Curated by C Freeman, E Herrera, M Williams Queens, NY
Kentucky Museum of Arts & Crafts Still They Persist! Curated by Fem Four Louisville, KY
Flux Factory Air Rights Cunt Quilt Hourglass Curated by Christina Freeman Queens, NY
Sedition Dreamspace Curated by Sophie Kahn Digital Exhibition
2017 Bronx Museum Bronx Calling AIM Biennial Curated by Aylet Ojeda NYC
AIR Gallery Beyond the Bedcovers Curated by Laura Petrovich-Cheney Brooklyn, NY
NYFA Gallery Informality Curated by David C Terry NYC
NYU Kimmel Gallery Unnatural Election Curated by Andrea Arroyo NYC
2015 Bitforms Gallery Distrust that Particular Flavor Curated by Dexter Wimberly NYC
2014 Spring Break Art Fair Interventions Curated by Larry Ossei Mensah NYC
2013 No Longer Empty How Much Do I Owe You? Curated by Matti Havens Queens, NY
Hundred Forsyth Gallery I Like it When the Girls New York, NY
2012 Bronx Museum Latin American Biennale BMHC Lab Bronx, NY
Kunstlerhaus Brethanien After NOW! Kino Arsenale Curated by Hito Steyerl Berlin, DE
2011 Clemente Soto Velez Gallery Capture Curated by Christina Freeman NYC
2010 Smithsonian Museum International Gallery VSA Arts Festival Washington, DC
New York Armory VSA Arts Booth NYC
LMCC Project Space Alot of Possibilities NYC
Hunter College Times Square Gallery Being Here NYC
Casa Lin Gallery Artseen curated by Fred Snitzer, Maggy Cuesta Miami, FL
2009 New York Armory VSA Arts Booth NYC
Andrew Edlin Gallery VSA Arts Group Show NYC
Wassaic Project Summer Festival Wassaic, NY
2006 Smithsonian Museum Destination Anywhere VSA Arts Ripley Center Washington, DC
Miami University Museum Destination Anywhere VSA Arts Oxford, OH
Kennedy Center Museum Destination Anywhere VSA Arts Washington, DC
2004 Parsons Architecture Gallery Architecture Thesis Exhibition NYC
2000 Corcoran Gallery of Art Young Arts Award Show Washington, DC
Miami Art Museum Young Arts Award Show Miami, FL
Press Bibliography
2023 WOPHA Conference Keynote, Perez Art Museum Miami "Coralina Rodriguez Meyer Performs Ancestral Intelligence" Dr Donette Francis
Maryland Today “The Artistry in Maternity” Sala Levin
2021 Hyperallergic “How Incan-Muiscan Wisdom Helps Preserve Lives BIPOC Women” Daniel Larkin
Latinx Spaces “Juana Valdes offers refuge in Rest Ashore” Coralina Rodriguez Meyer
2020 WLRN, NPR Miami “Women’s March Makes Steps Towards Inclusivity” Maria Esquinca
Miami Herald “Fourth Annual Women’s March Miami Draws Supporters” Isaiah Smalls
2019 Referentin Journal (Germany) “Pussy Hats und Cunt Quilts” Sarah Held
Art Forum “Miami Artists Awarded for the Ellies”
2018 The Guardian "See Change:The battle against sexual harassment in the art world" Nadia Sayej
USA Today “Women’s March exhibit puts recent history in spotlight” Meg Ryan
2017 Hyperallergic "An Artist Seeks Women’s Used Underwear for Sewing into Quilts" Sara Rose Sharp
National Museum of Women in the Arts blog “Art Fix Friday” Emily Haight
2017 Paper Magazine "This Artist is Turning Your Dirty Underwear Into an Anti-Trump Quilt"
Jezebel "We're Not Gonna Sit Down: A Day Without a Woman” Ellie Shechet
London Review of Books “Me Too Outside Trump’s Hotel” Moira Donegan
Metro UK "This artist wants to turn your worn underwear into an act of protest" Ellen Scott
Metropotam Bucharest "Artist Coralina Meyer's Dirty Underwear Flag"
Viva TV Berlin "Diese Frau Protestiert Mit Dreckigen Unterhoschen Gegen Trumps"
Lady Zone Bulgaria "Worn Pants Against Trump" Evgeny Milov
2014 Art Nerd March “Spring Break Art Show” Natalie Trainor
2013 ArtInfo November “Critical Scenes from an Architect’s Halloween” Anna Kats
2010 New York Times September “Last Supper Salon”
Hyperallergic “The Last Supper Salon at 3rd Ward”
2009 New York Post “Last Supper a Good One” Aaron Short
2008 Village Voice September “A Feast for the Senses”
Time Out Magazine September “Best of the Fests”
New York Magazine September “Will Edible Art Give Artsy-Fartsy a New Meaning?”
2007 Nylon Magazine September “Music: Last Supper Festival”
Lectures Interviews
2023 Civic Art Lab "Mama Spa Botanica: Hovering Above Redlines & Waterlines" Greenspace NYC
219 West Episode 86 “NY Stories: An Artist’s Take on the Maternal Health Crisis in America” Sunny Nagpaul NYC
Miami Dade College Koubek Center Artists in Residence film Omni Kizzy Productions Miami FL
2022 American Alliance of Museums & Galleries Conference Sustainable Art Panel University of Utah
Young Arts Foundation Home: Reimagining Interiority Artist Interview Miami FL
2021 Perez Art Museum Miami My Body My Rules Artist Talk Artist Panel Discussion Miami FL
Perez Art Museum Miami My Body My Rules Interview w Curator Jennifer Ignacio Miami FL
Latinx Forum CHISPA Artist Talk Coralina Rodriguez Meyer Video New York NY
Common Field Convening Mother Artist Locust Projects Curated by Monica Peña Virtual
Kean University Human Rights Institute Capturing Change Exhibition Discussion Panelist NJ
2020 Tomorrow Girl Troup International Feminist Artists guest lecturer Tokyo Japan
La Guardia Community College Artist Studio Visit guest lecturer New York NY
2019 Pratt Institute Summit: Launching an Ethical Future panelist Brooklyn NY
2018 The Guardian "See Change: The battle against sexual harassment in the art world" N Sayej
2017 Univision “Decenas de Personas Protestan Contra el Abuso Sexual en Manhattan” New York NY
Bronx Museum AIM Biennial Artist Talk & Performance Bronx NY
2013 Brooklyn Museum Meirle Laderman Ukeles Post-Sandy Maintenance Reconstruction Brooklyn NY
2012 Hunter College Focus & Motivation Lecture Art History Hall New York NY
2007 NY1 TV Last Supper Salon Interview Hope Lounge Brooklyn NY