Martin C. Rodriguez

Exploration of one’s culture helps reveal and enhance your underlying identity – your unique meaning, value, and character – of the physical and social form.  As a first-generation mainland Puerto Rican, I have been creatively connecting with my Taino heritage through performance and interdisciplinary work incorporating my indigenous past, present, and future; predominately as my given alter ego, Ro-Matúm.

The body can be brutal and telling in its simplicity as a medium, yet provides the softness which allows an artist themself to become the work of art. Through the use of cinematic influences, cultural references, and the exploration of portraits created through memories, I present these notions with sound, installations, and strenuous body movements. The intention for the viewer is to experience a compelling format and to imagine who these developed characters are, what their story is, and where it will lead. With the expression of time-based narratives, I activate spaces and connect with the public, while embracing the moment. Time, presence, potential energy, technology, sound, and silence.