MAYELA RODRIGUEZ

Born in Santa Barbara, California

Lives and works in Los Angeles, California

Using copper as a visual metaphor for the ways that socio-political and economic contexts impact identity, Mayela Rodriguez excavates her family lineage.

The artist’s father grew up near Mexico’s Buenavista del Cobre copper mine, and she grew up hearing about an uncle who, allegedly, pitched rocks into the open-cast pit and later played for the Detroit Tigers.  

In 2017, Rodriguez engaged in a many-month correspondence to acquire copper from the mine. She then took the metal on a pilgrimage to locations that she or her family had once called home, including Santa Barbara, the Imperial Valley, San Francisco’s Bay Area, and Detroit, Michigan.

“I was interested in discovering what it meant to simply exist with my copper. How could our pilgrimage both transform it and me? By developing a relationship with my copper in this way, I realized that the copper was not just a slab of metal excavated from the depths of Mexican earth but a vessel to hold all of my concentrated questions, thoughts, and insecurities about my identity as a Mexican-American.” 

Mayela Rodriguez received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley (2015) and her MFA from the University of Michigan (2019). Most recently, Mayela has worked on collaborative projects with Latinx communities in Ann Arbor, Michigan, New Cuyama, and Santa Barbara, California.

Visit the artist’s website: www.mayelarodriguez.com