Aesthetics & Values artist short bios are used for the A&V catalog, A&V website, and for A&V labels. The bios should be approximately 250-300 words. They should include the date and location of the artist’s birth, the institutions at which s/he studied, the artist’s gallery representation, institutions at which s/he has exhibited, and other relevant information. Ideally each bio will include an original quote (not used in a previous publication or online) by the artist. Please refer to previous Aesthetics & Values catalogs as a guide.

Cristina Lei Rodriguez

Leah Altmann, Sara Bone, Kelly Knight, Jesse Meadows, Michael Mesa, & Anna Miorelli

 Cristina Lei Rodriguez was born in Miami in 1974.  Her mother is a Japanese-American from Hawaii and her father is from Cuba.  She spent her childhood immersed in the cultural playground of Miami, and was able to feed her artistic and creative habits at an early age.  She has always wanted to be an artist, “Even as a child I was very focused on it.”

She still lives in Miami, and the atmosphere provides her with both the cultural and environmental inspiration for her art.  A daughter, sister, wife, and mother, Rodriguez has been simultaneously perfecting her craft throughout her lifetime.  “My first art making memories were at art camp when I was 4.  Growing up I did all kinds of craft projects and practiced drawing and putting together collages.  I was an art major in college, and focused on painting and sculpture. In graduate school I focused on installation, sculpture and performance,” she remarked.

Currently, she is focused on developing a body of work of large sculptures.  “I make sculptures usually from assemblage techniques.  I am known for working in plastic, paint, epoxy, and Plexiglas with selected objects. Currently, I have expanded to also using plaster, wood, and paper in the assemblage works,” she says.  When asked how long each sculpture takes to complete, Rodriguez replied, “Sometimes a work can be completed very quickly, but usually from an initial idea to completion takes a few months.  I have worked on large scale works that take a year.”

Rodriguez described her goals as an artist as, “to have a serious and disciplined practice, and to constantly push the work so that it evolves.  I am interested in my work being relevant in the dialogue of the international contemporary art world.”  She is represented globally by the Fredric Snitzer Gallery in Miami, Team Gallery in NYC, and the Brand New Gallery in Milan.