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Isa Rodriguez
My name is Isa Rodriguez. I am a Queer, Venezuelan American artist based in Oklahoma City.
New Works:
In 2025, I am artists in residence at Studio School at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. Here’s what I’m creating.
Kalaira (Jaguar Drawings):
Kalaira (Jaguar Drawings) is a series of large-scale mixed media drawings that depict migratory jaguars living along the U.S.-Mexico border. Jaguars, or “kalaira” in the Wayunaiki language, have a specific spiritual significance as symbols of matrilineal leadership, strength, intelligence, and the power to transcend boundaries.
The Kalaira drawings respond to current conversations about migration, territory, and boundaries. Due to their size and scale, the drawings become “bodies” that the viewer must navigate–physically, emotionally, and conceptually. The lush surfaces pull viewers in close, dissolving the difference between the jaguar and its habitat, creating a space where a viewer can’t distinguish subject from environment.
Ceramics:
For Spouts and Bridges (2025), I use contemporary ceramic techniques to reinterpret “pre-Columbian” gestures, like double-spout-and-bridge vessels (Nazca). By multiplying these gestures on a single pot, I’m creating futuristic forms whose function becomes increasingly complex and symbolic.
Los dos (Both of Us):
In Los dos (Both of Us), I recreate a pre-Columbian leg-shaped effigy vessel using my leg as a model. The original leg effigy is from the Maracaibo Basin, a region inhabited by my indigenous ancestors since time immemorial. When displayed together, the pair stride across time, illustrating an artistic lineage spanning thousands of years.
This pieces is part of a series called Ya llegué (I’ve Arrived), which includes sculptures, photographs, and drawings created in collaboration with the leg vessel and the ancestral spirits it carries. This body of work invites audiences to consider their histories of migration–recent and ancient–and participate in imagining paths to liberation and belonging.
Other Projects:
Practice Practice (ongoing)
I collaborate with Dylan Cale Jones on a community-based arts education project called Practice Practice. We publish accessible resources that help artists build balanced sustainable practices, so that they can keep creating their art.
Our resources include zines, bi-weekly newsletters, a podcast and a workbook, created with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation and Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.
Our community-based work intentionally engages all artists and creative practices. Although we are professional artists with independent careers, we dedicate significant time and energy to this project because we are committed to seeing all artists thrive.
For more information about Practice Practice, visit our website!
Creative Drawing Class (ongoing)
I teach a unique curriculum called Creative Drawing at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center’s Studio School. Creative Drawing helps you unblock your creativity and embrace your unique style. We cover contemporary drawing techniques using Radical Drawing foundations: (1)Drawing is a verb. (2)Everyone can draw! (3)Your drawing is not “good” or “bad”.
Drawing Radical Futures (2023)
Drawing Radical Futures is an interactive drawing exercise commissioned by the Oklahoma Contemporary Art Center for the 2023 ArtNow biennial exhibition. The exhibition, titled “ArtNow: The Soul is a Wanderer”, is based on the poem A Map to the Next World by poet Joy Harjo. My drawing exercise guides visitors as they draw a map to their future.
Draw Every Day This Week (2022)
Draw Every Day This Week is a new mini zine from the Radical Drawing Project. This tiny workbook has big ideas in a small format. It will help you build an everyday drawing practice starting with this week.