Opening night of “HOMEGROWN” at The Kessler Theater. Photo courtesy of Patricia Rodriguez.
Oak Cliff native Patricia Rodriguez’s solo art show “HOMEGROWN” will take place through August 15 at The Kessler Theater. The show is free to attend and open to all ages.
The show’s opening was on June 29. Dozens of Oak Cliff residents came out to support the local artists and art, including members of the Oak Cliff Ladies Club.
Rodriguez has been creating art for over twenty years. According to her website, “she is currently freelancing as a painter and muralist and draws a major part of her inspiration for her work from Nature.”
Her approach to each painting is “subconscious and organic,” meaning that it is never sketched or pre-planned. Some pieces are a reminder of the temporary nature of life and that “everyone has a season of growing, blooming, and then dying,” said Rodriguez. Other pieces dissect technology’s impact in today’s word, driven by color and movement.
“[The show] is a call to the viewer to look more closely at their natural surroundings in a hyper digital age of cell phones and computer screens,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said her show is meant to focus on acceptance of these aspects rather than the gloom one might feel.
Patricia Rodriguez, middle, with attendees on opening night. Photo courtesy of Patricia Rodriguez.
In her home studio on Edgefield Ave., Rodriguez’s born-and-raised Oak Cliff background contributed to her identity and art. The pieces took about two months to finish after Rodriguez got confirmation from The Kessler.
“This is my home and [the show] is my gift to my neighborhood,” she said. “I’ve been able to watch [Oak Cliff] transform into many things. Spotlighting a native who has been here and seen it all come and go and how I’ve interpreted everything visually- was very much an honor to me.”
Rodriguez’s art communicates that chaos and elegance can co-exist in the same way nature’s plants take on different arrangements.
“Things are being created and growing in little secret gardens all around you if you look and pay attention,” Rodriguez said.
