Martha Rodriguez was a late-blooming artist who painted only in the last decade of her life. Originally from San Jose, she was a resident of San Francisco for 40 years. Martha graduated with a degree in Social Welfare from U.C. Berkeley and worked in the field of Public Health at the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980’s. She helped with researching the causes and effects of HIV during that time.
After her son and daughter were born, she began to volunteer in their schools creating Chicano-related art curriculum to share with the students. It was then that she began to explore her own art forms, first making jewelry, crafts and altars, and later began painting on canvas.
Always intrigued by color, cultures, creativity and lifestyles, Martha continues to create one of a kind jewelry with an emphasis on bright colors, beadwork and Dia de los Muertos / Frida Kahlo iconography. Her home accessories also highlight Latino icons with an assortment of crowns, crosses framed in shadow boxes. Martha’s paintings, also rich in color carry on the thread of Chicana themes and also explore the beauty of women’s powerful bodies as a more natural alternative to the gaunt images seen in fashion magazines.
Martha was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2010, and died from the disease in 2016. She lived each day enriched by the challenges she faced, every smile she received and laughter she shared. She saw life as a myriad of bright colors that endures in the artwork she created.
Martha did not start painting on canvas until she was almost 50 years old and had just a dozen years to focus on this medium before her death. In this collection you will find a window into the process of how she developed her ideas and prepared them for the canvas.
The Women is a collection of female imagery from Martha's imagination and dreams from the years 2004 through 2016. The faces, dresses, hair and jewels have a breathtaking diversity, but their style is unmistakably and uniquely Martha. We present them as a tribute and celebration of the feminine inspiration that was always at the heart of her work
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