A story I've been meaning to tell on screen is of my Tia Nena, who died a few years back.
I remember her from my childhood, she took care of me when my mom was out of town. My mom would take me to visit her all the time. She had so many plants in her home. She had so many lilies, rose bushes, a flowers.
I visited the DR in 2015 and I shot some footage of her, she was well into a battle with cancer then. She felt well spirited, but she was very sick.
This painting becomes the originator of the aunties series. Tia Nena will always live in my memory as someone who was spiritually connected to the homeland. She didn't make it to the States.
There was a topic of spiritualism that I wanted to touch. Something about the altar to Santa Barbara and my mom's old smelling tarot cards. I wondered if I could draw new saints, some that I could relate to.
I thought of the brightness of the sun. I thought of cloaking her in clouds and covering her in flowers. The most important thing decided there, that she would be larger than anything else in the frame.
Tia Nena's Painting
Acrylic on Canvas
3ft by 3ft
November 2021
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: SOLD
Prints: $200
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Some aunties are larger than life. They live on through the tales of our parents, they're women ( not always related) who provided care and love and often a lot of criticism.
Consuelo was old my entire life. She must've been a million years old when I saw her in 2022, well after this painting was made. I didn't know her that well, visiting her was my mom's pilgrimage to the Campo (rural mountains area in the DR.) She was one of those older folks that hugged you tight and told you "I used to carry you when you were just a baby." I only started recognizing her as an adult.
The inspiration for the vibrant colors must've come from my daily walking commute to the gym. That Crown heights Hill looked turquoise. The rising new out of place buildings grabbed my attention, they were almost too reflective. When I added pineapple plants to her portrait I didn't know that Consuelo's yard in the DR had them growing abundantly. The area where she lived was covered cocoa bean plants among all kinds of wild tropical fauna.
I focused on her face and her posture. He eyes are observant, she lost her vision later in life. I was fascinated by the wrap of her hair and by the cigar smoke.
For the spiritual, Consuelo's painting presents a guarding great aunt. In depicting an older black woman matriarch, I try to honor the ancestors who made it beyond old age and passed down the rituals through generations.
Consuelo's Painting
Acrylic on Canvas
3ft by 3ft
December 2020
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: SOLD
Prints: $500
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I found an old photo of my aunt Ada, where she was making a sexy pose. In classic late 1990's fashion, the film was a relic. She's the aunt that took me in the one time I ran away. She's deep in Brooklyn and can be credited with my first introduction to the borough.
In the D.R Ada had a lot of fruit bearing trees in her yard. With the limited sunlight in her Cypress Hill apartment I doubt much will grow. She's recently moved back to the homeland.
Funny enough Ada was with us on my mom's pilgrimage to see Consuelo. She had not been there since she was a child. Rumor was that Consuelo might be dying soon, so my uncle was with us as well. Although I lived with her after my first boyfriend escape, my most vivid bonding moment was looking through the plants on the campo collecting samples.
She got cuttings of everything exotic she could find growing. She could spot an orchid growing on a branch six feet above her head.
It's important for me paint smiles on black and brown faces. Equally important, to show leisure, sexuality and joy. I intended for the setting be a clear night. Recollecting of the feel of Fall winter night in Cypress Hills.
Spiritually, I wanted to represent an idol honoring the parental line. Ancestors who parented the children of other members of the community and provided shelter of lost family members. With it I hope to invoke the presence of familial safety nets.
Ada's Painting
Acrylic on Canvas
3ft by 3ft
December 2020
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $3,500
Prints: $200
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This is the niece, the child.
When I was making this painting I replicated an image of myself. I wanted to recall on the divinity of young people. Placing the palm leaves as her wings, she has the prospective to take flight.
She's in my youthful rendition of Beds Stuy on a bright spring day. I drew from my bike rides down the brown-stone blocks. I choose to thicken the white's in this painting creating a texture in the brightest areas on the canvas. An experiment of merging pastel colors with texture for emphasis.
Carolina in Pink
Acrylic on Canvas
3ft by 3ft
March 2021
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $3,500
Prints: $200
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As a passage of time this is the Niece as a young Auntie.
While I engage in the exploration of womanhood, I realize that my current life experiences were not been available to the people that came before me.
This painting represents the line of maternal aunties, as both the present the future and the past. Mia (Niece) is the future and I'm was painting my present tense and looking at the past for inspiration.
In spiritual terms I looked at Madonna and child, as both an art motif and religious one. I wanted to maintain the integrity of joy in the painting while just-a-poxing an image like madonna and child, where in most depictions tend to be mildly sad.
New York City seemed overgrown with Rose bushes during the pandemic. The roses are painting with a lot of texture, I try to emulate the bright pops color they add to the city.
The early afternoon sunsets had caught my attention and in my memory they are light pink and vanilla flavored. The reflecting buildings along the waterfront giving off an ethereal light.
Mia and Me
Acrylic on Canvas
3ft by 3ft
May 2021
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $3,500
Prints: $200
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On September 1st, 2021 - just hours after I paid my rent, Hurricane Ida flooded the basement apartment where I was living. I could not rescue the rest of the square frames I was planning on using to continue this square paintings series. I had been Working on these Auntie paintings for a long time and this incident shifted my ideas on future paintings.
There was so much rain in Brooklyn in 2021, the flood that displaced me was the third one that year. I was able to save the last canvas I had stretched. I decided to paint about the present moment, and overwhelm the canvas with white painted rain. A flooded city and the first sad person in this entire city.
Following the thread of spiritualism I wanted to present loss and heartache. As essential periods for growth. My orchid's survival of the flood and a newly gentrified Flatbush building.
Hurricane Ida's
Acrylic on Canvas
3ft by 3ft
November 2021
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $3,500
Prints: $200
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No matter how many times I take a train into Manhattan I never get used to the magnitude of the skyline. The idea from this painting started on top of the world trade center looking out at a 6am sunrise.
The women in subject I've met in passing. They each had an artistic trade, jewelry making, photography, products for black hair. I wanted to take the topic away from my family. Taking a panoramic view at the aunties in the surrounding area.
Brooklyn is filled with Black women from all backgrounds. I overcrowded the frame, thinking of the bounty.
This painting took a long time to make and conceptualize. Now it lives to connect to the people outside family. If this is a new depiction of saints, one that I could relate to: Then this painting invites new flowering friendships. Fruitful connections.
Young Women I Barely Know
Acrylic on Canvas
3ft by 7ft
December 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $12,000
Prints: $500
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Portrait of the artist smiling. She's wearing green with a white flower patter that grows into her dark curly hair. The mix of brown and and beige shades with a yellow undertone for her skin. The backgroud is a yard with a tree, green undertones, and bright sunshine.
Self Portrait
Acrylic on Canvas
16 Inch by 24 Inch
June 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $1,500
Prints: $100
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Lorainy is the childhood friend who's kid calls you auntie. It's a portrait of a mother holding her baby to sleep. I've always been interested in depicting young mothers.
Spider plants because of how they reproduce. They shoot out flowering stems with baby spider plants that are meant to root on their own.
I try to look back at the ancestors who were young mothers.
Lorainy's
Acrylic on Canvas
16 Inch by 24 Inch
October 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $1,500
Prints: $100
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Sexuality as depicted by one's own perspective. I wanted to paint a body away from sexual objectification. It's almost a presentation, but it's looking into a mirror.
The queen Pothos because of its flexibility. As a plant vine that climbs throughout the body.
Nude Woman
Acrylic on Canvas
24 Inches by 32 Inches
December 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $2,500
Prints: $200
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After years of painting women largely in the frame I had to confront the feelings of being too small to be seen.
It's a contradiction that persists that sometimes I feel so small and at the same time like I occupy too much space.
Acknowledging vulnerability, being affected by the outside and shrinking to in response to the stress.
Feeling Small With Apples
Acrylic on Canvas
8 Inch by 11 Inch
March 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $800
Prints: $80
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Following the thread of small figures and experimenting with different paper. I want to contrast the large city scapes with the small still life.
Naturally this is how the aunties series developed. In this piece I paint bold colors and broad marks. The Yupo surface being is not porous, it allows the paint to build on the surface. It took weeks to dry, but the result is a very tactile piece.
Using the texture of the paint struck to make the hair texture. The importance of hair texture variety persists.
Woman and Pineapple
Oil on Yupo Paper
11 Inch by 14 Inch
March 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $1,000
Prints: $100
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An aunties series would be incomplete without mention of the cousins. So if you've caught it, I've been drawing from the social relationships with womanhood under the umbrella of auntie. As a term of endearment, it is a fundamental role that women of color grow into.
Darisa was the cousin that grew up beside you. Getting into shenanigans during Summer vacation. And though I know her as a my aunties child, she is an auntie herself. Can you see the fractal?
With this portrait I show the adventurous. An altar for the cousins who take us out of our comfort and teach us to socialize.
Darisa Portrait
Acrylic on Canvas
8 Inch by 11 Inch
June 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $1,500
Prints: $100
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It's a close up of a woman you don't know, I didn't know her either. I'm looking into the details of her face, knowing that it would just be this once.
Autumnal background, foreshadowing the coming dormant season.
Stranger's Portrait
Acrylic on Canvas
8 Inch by 11 Inch
October 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $500
Prints: $50
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This is portrait is about the sun being absorbed by my skin. It's about the heat you feel in your face after a sunburn.
Pink Sunglasses
Acrylic on Canvas
24 Inches by 32 Inches
December 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $500
Prints: $50
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This small painting on watercolor paper is the first thing I made for this series. I drew inspiration from Prospect Park on a spring weekend. I think the nudity speaks towards the vulnerability of showing up in the world. From this small painting I grew the idea of painting large black women in city scapes.
This piece could be the merger between this series and the series I did before, which were mostly works on paper and mostly dealt with the relationship to the physical body.
In the Middle Of The Park
Acrylic on Paper
11 Inch by 14 Inch
November 2020
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $700
Prints: $70
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I made this painting after a terrible loss of creative work during a full moon. It was made with the emotions of loneliness and hopelessness. It's a little different from the rest. In the future this painting might be the bridge between the Aunties series and what I work on next.
Full Moon in Winter
Oil / Acrylic on Canvas
16 Inch by 24 Inch
January 2023
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $1,000
Prints: $100
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In this piece I want to talk about the experience on hanging on by the pinky. A chronicle I've experienced in my life of always having to hold on when I'm feeling small.
This painting can be the connection between the large portrait city scapes and the small still life.
Hanging on a Hand
Acrylic on Canvas
8 Inch by 11 Inch
May 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $500
Prints: $50
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As the final painting in this series, two aunties dancing bachata on a sunflower. Invoking fun experiences and meaningful bonds.
The practice is making paintings about womanhood, as I live it.
Bachata Dancing on A Sunflower
Acrylic on Canvas
8 Inch by 11 Inch
April 2022
By Dilenia Rodriguez
Original: $500
Prints: $50
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