ARTIST STATEMENT
The series “Homesick” examines the contrast between my transient, international childhood and current life in the suburbs and the emotional connections we form with our domestic spaces. While reckoning with putting down roots for the first time, I also struggled with the isolation of caregiving. In this series of self-portraits, I physically connect with the landscape and objects, using gestures inspired by contemporary dance as a way to transcend and be in relationship with something greater than myself. I choose to only show fragments of my body in each image to retain autonomy and control over what is hidden and what is revealed and to have the viewer serve as a witness to the deep exploration, care, and attention I am giving the natural environment. These images capture the dichotomy of my liminal moments of freedom outdoors while also remaining restricted to our property. Moments I spent alone but also in plain sight of my children and neighbors, using my body as a cartographic tool for delineating and transgressing edges and boundaries, longing for connection but also for the security of separation.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kathryn Rodrigues is a Chicago based artist and educator. Her practice investigates the interconnectedness of identity, memory, domestic life, and the natural world. Her current work explores the contrast between her transient, international childhood and current life in the suburbs, ideas of transcendence within a domestic setting, and her experience as a parent. Kathryn received a BFA in Photography from the University of Illinois and a MS from the Massachusetts College of Art. Kathryn has completed residencies at Ragdale, Marwen and Stay Home Gallery. Her work has been featured on Lenscratch and Fraction Magazine. Exhibition highlights include the Chicago Cultural Center, Perspective Gallery, Woman Made Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Midwest Center for Photography, Filter Space, Spilt Milk Gallery, Open House Contemporary, University of North Dakota, Xavier University, the Terrain Biennial, University of West Georgia and ARC Gallery.
© Kathryn Rodrigues