LOCAL Houston | The City Guide September 2016 | Page 32

ART ROLANDO ROJAS In a city as culturally diverse as ours, it comes as no surprise that acclaimed artists are on constant rotation, leaving their personal mark on our rich landscape. Oaxacan artist ROLANDO ROJAS is the latest artist to set permanent roots in Houston with a new studio at Silver Street Studios. Born in Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, Rojas identifies strongly with the culture of the Záa (cloud people). The Tehuantepec ancestors believed they descended from mystical trees and animals like lizards, fish and turtles. His colorful works illustrate how the universal creator formulates a versatile world where imaginary and mythological characters and themes reign supreme. Rojas shares, “All the characters, animals and figures that inhabit my paintings are images transformed from the beings that populated my grandmother’s stories. The cosmos, the sun and the moon have become a part of a personal world where they have to live as part of a larger story.” At first glance a journey into Rojas’ intimate world is bewildering but upon closer viewing an observer is able to fully decipher the content which explores topics like fertility, sensuality and his Oaxacan ancestry. The iconic artist was invited by art patron Valentina Atkinson to use her gallery space. Rojas can be found working in his studio. “Time and scheduling are completely unimportant to me when I am working; I can work for a few hours a night or until dawn, because when I am painting the number of images that suggest themselves for composition is endless.” By Carla Valencia de Martinéz Photography by Fernando Talavera 32 L O C A L | september 16