Chabriely Rivera Roldan

(BIO)

Chabriely Rivera Roldan is a trans masc nonbinary interdisciplinary artist who has been based in San Antonio, Texas since 2015. The start of Rivera Roldan’s artistic career began after their acceptance into SAY Sí, a creative youth development program, in 2016. Rivera Roldan is currently studying Art, with a focus on New Media, at the University of Texas in San Antonio and will be graduating with a B.A. in Spring of 2023.

Rivera Roldan is Puerto Rican but wasn’t born or raised on the island. Additionally, having lived across the US and periodically in Central America, Rivera Roldan is influenced by a path of intersecting identities that directly informs their work.  

Their practice revolves around concepts of queer identity, the human experience, and sensory activation through installations. They are inspired by relational aesthetics and explore other mediums such as performance.

Chabriely has mentored their peers at SAY Sí within their studio and served as a liaison during their time there. They have taught middle school Art through SAY Sí’s program, Artists Building Communities, and have given a workshop at the McNay to spark creativity in youth.

Rivera Roldan has most recently shown work and participated with and alongside Pamela Martinez’s DAM! Series, including an installation, performance and augmented reality piece. Chabriely’s artwork has been shown at the 38th Annual Juried Student Exhibition at UTSA, the Upstairs Studios at Blue Star Complex, spoken at a panel at PAX about teen video game development, had a paired show at the 1906 gallery, and has participated in Small Scale Big Change, an auction event held by SAY Sí, along with other student shows during their time with the creative youth development program.

(STATEMENT)

My artwork revolves around themes of intersectionality, queer identity, and the human experience. My practice is interdisciplinary and I am continuously looking for a variety of mediums to work with to best express the subject matter and create an impact. I tend to revisit themes in my work and manifest them in different forms, what once was an installation will become a drawing, what once was a print will become a series of photographs. This level of experimentation allows me to shift perspectives and view my work and concepts through another lens. 

Not only do I invite the audience to engage with my pieces but there is a lingering sense of familiarity along with an uncomfortableness. This also coincides with making the audience aware of the micro and macro of existence with hints of naturalism. Time and relationships, along with pressures and phenomena are key elements in how I arrange and actualize my ideas. In some of my pieces there are references to religious rituals/symbols that act as means of finding divine power within or alluding to a feeling of transcendence through spirituality versus religion.

My installations gravitate towards being immersive, encouraging audience members to interact and experience my work, to walk away with a piece of me. I feel connected to the school of Relational Aesthetics, mainly through facilitating dialogue and reactions with my audience. People are typically told not to touch artwork but there is a sense of play in my work that wants to create that space for the audience through sensory activation, awe and curiosity.