Venezuelan Panamanian artist Lucha Rodríguez reimagines the materiality of paper while excavating its core fibers to create unexpected surfaces. As she dissects, she creates structural and spatial changes where shadow, light, and color reflections evoke physical and tactile experiences. Rodríguez’s cuts are always precise and intentional, each work appears to have a harmonious balance achieved by allowing each element to have its own space to exist. During her career, she has been featured in group and solo exhibitions in the U.S. and internationally in India, Mexico, China, and France. Her work is included in permanent collections such as The High Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art Collection; and The Bascom Center for Visual Arts. Rodríguez has been artist-in-residence at ChaNorth, Vermont Studio Center, MASS MoCA, and Wassaic Project.

This work speaks to the act of gathering and understanding visual information and the interplay between light, surface, and form. The presence of the in-between space is made visible by multiple superficial cuts, each cut is intended to redirect light across the surface of the paper creating subtle areas of shadow which react to environmental lighting conditions. When you begin to notice the subtleties in these works, you will find yourself taking a second look at what is hidden in plain sight. A metaphor for our vague experiences in everyday life, the importance of proximity, and the fact that you can never look closely enough.