We are San Francisco on Mission Local

This article was published on September 25, 2014 in Mission Local. It is an explanation of my soon to be installed altar installation, We are San Francisco at SOMArts Dia de los Muertos exhibit Visions at Twilight. Please click on highlighted links for more info on Visions at Twilight.

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We Are San Francisco / Somos San Francisco

The snake with Martha's dog Chip.

By Lydia Chávez

Posted September 24, 2014 4:22 pm

Martha Rodriguez, a Mission District artist,  and others are busy working on Day of the Dead exhibits for the annual installation at SOMAArts. Rodriguez sent us some photos of her work in progress and her thoughts behind the giant snake.  The exhibit opens on October 11 and runs through November 8th.  You can also follow her blog here. 

The snake.

I’m one of forty artists participating in SOMArts San Francisco, Day of the Dead exhibit titled‘Visions at Twilight.” The focus of this year’s event revolves around the theme of gentrification of San Francisco and the loss of culture and people being felt in the Bay Area now.

This has been a difficult challenge for me as emotions run high on this theme and changes in the City come rapidly. I have looked for a sliver of hope throughout these changes although hope has been difficult to find during this upheaval.  Still after thinking through this dilemma,  I decided that change may happen, but for those who carry on the values of living in a diverse community, those values will stay within us.

I decided to call my altar installation We Are San Francisco / Somos San Francisco. The main image within the installation will be a serpent, shedding its skin. The serpent represents the community of San Francisco who value the ideals of progressive politics and diversity. The shedding of skin represents a need to reexamine who we are, to renew, reaffirm our identity as longtime San Franciscans.  Along with the serpent shedding its skin, I will have the following poem displayed within the altar. It further explains the purpose ofWe Are San Francisco / Somos San Francisco.

Finally, the installation will be interactive. There will be slips of paper available for visitors viewing the installation where they can leave a note in answer to the question: What is San Francisco to You? In addition, for children coming through on school tours, they will be asked to do a self-portrait and to hang it from the colorful ribbons hanging from the top of the altar.

In the end, I hope to convey from We Are San Francisco / Somos San Francisco, that our City, despite the changes, is still defined by its diversity in people, politics, histories, generations. For those of us who truly value our diverse community, whether remaining or forced to leave, our soul remains within our City. Our unity has been challenged by change but our belief system remains

https://missionlocal.org/2014/09/we-are-san-francisco-somos-san-francisco/  

for tickets to opening go to:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/opening-event-for-visions-at-twilight-dia-de-los-muertos-2014-tickets-13012965129

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Thanks all and health and happiness to you!

~ Martha

My Doggie Chip relaxing next to "Ruby" the snake

snake head finished and Chip decided to lay down next to his new "companion"

Evolution of a snake making journey or how to not FREAK OUT when your great idea is not so great...

I have been working on making a snake head for the past week and a half. Well, I'm starting with the head first and then will come the body.

I started with a basic idea: bubble wrap to shape the body and prdovide a "scaly" texture, tape to hold it together, acrylic paint to cover it with. Well, the bubble wrap evolved to bubble wrap covering a cardboard shape. I needed a pattern of sorts to cover the bubble wrap with. The tape worked well holding everything together and defining a shape. The acrylic paint?? No so great. It was taking layer of paint to cover the plastic bubbles. My studio mate suggested using Gesso which was thicker. BINGO! it worked. Much better coverage with a large paint brush. The bubble wrap though I'm learning takes the Gesso only so well. If its not painted over with other paint immediately after drying,  it cracks off. BIG DRAG. My next step  for the body is to reverse the bubble wrap where the bubbles are face down. The smooth side takes the Gesso and paint easier and won't crack off. There will be a slight bubble texture on the body but it won't be as smooth as the body. HEY...maybe I'll keep the bubbles outward on top and facedown on the bottomside of the snake. I'll try it!! Isn't this just TOO INTERESTING.

My snake making journey or HOW TO NOT FREAK OUT WHEN YOUR GREAT IDEA IS NOT SO GREAT!!

Here's pics to show my progress on the head:

Second section of body will be formed today but actual birth is days away!!

We Are San Francisco / Somos San Francisco

Chinese artist Zhan Wang used stainless steel pots and pans, as well as silverwareto create San Francisco cityscape

Must apologize for my long silence. Have been concentrating on staying healthy and been busy in my studio creating. I am now headed into my busiest time of year which is Dia de los Muertos, Between now and early November I will be preparing, painting, jewelry making and adding my own style of folk art for purchase.

One of the main projects I'l be working on is an installation for SOMArts Dia de los Muertos Exhibit. This year the title is: “Visions at Twilight”.  

“Visions at Twilight” is evocative of the loss of culture and people being felt in the Bay Area now—in this time of displacement our Day of the Dead exhibition focuses on the evictions of families, artists, cultural centers, and non-profit spaces, calling on artists to question and challenge the people and policies that are destroying the cultural fibers of the city and the Bay Area. "

In working with this theme, I wrote a poem / statement that gives some insight into the installation I'll be building. The title is We Are San Francisco / Somos San Francisco.

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What is San Francisco to you?

Change, change.

Shifting, shaping

rapid, thoughtless,

minimize, multiply,

erase, recreate.

Homogenized beauty,

suburbs in the city.

A rainbow of people,

fade into

shades of grey.

Onslaught continues,

more land, more money,

more buildings, more restaurants,

more evictions.

This change to fear or face

for those who stay,

whose soul remains?

Perhaps like the serpent we must shed our skin.

We slough the old,

return anew,

reaffirmed, reborn, renewed.

Still here, united still,

to proclaim, to remember, to connect and communicate.

We are San Francisco.

We breathe in the difference

and exhale community.

The serpent sheds it’s skin

and we and our generations remain.

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Will be posting with some work in progress pieces for the installation and will also be promoting the event as well Get ready!!

Hope all is well and sending healthy and positive thoughts to you all.

Martha