Collection: Petrichor, Selected By Ingrid Alonso-Rodriguez (online exhibition)
About the exhibition
"My process for selecting these pieces was to not think on an intellectual level, rather to impetuously pull out each piece of work that spoke to me without actually understanding why it did. After having collected all of the work, I realized each piece brought me back to a childhood memory and embodied a version of myself at a particular period in time in which I feel I was my most authentic self. I tend to over analyze most other things in life and with the purpose of not losing myself in the structure of things, I reserve a time and space in my mind in which I allow myself only to feel. At some point it was instinctual, much like breathing and as the years went by I found myself having to remind my body that it needs oxygen to survive."
About the selector
I was born in Oakland CA, in 1993 and moved to Richmond at the age of 4. I was one of three siblings raised by my single mother with the assistance of my aunt and uncle. I spent most of my early years playing in mud and creating exquisite meals out of leaves and sticks with my cousins, all whilst enjoying the smell of grass after a rainy day in the backyard of a 400 Sq ft studio, which we all referred to as “La Chiquita Casita”. Given the financial situation of my family, I developed a love for art much out of necessity. It was a constant part of my life and very much fueled a great part of my relationships with family. Having the latest clothes and toys wasn’t an option for me but my mother never let that get in the way of me having a great childhood and decided to instead get creative. My mom and I would spend hours making paper dolls and accessories. I was later taught to sew with a vintage iron sewing machine by my uncle so that I could alter my clothes. My older brother who lived a few hours away with my dad, would create comic strips and flip books for the weekends I would visit.
From elementary to high school, I spent a lot of my free time writing or sketching and realized that I never wanted to do either of these things for a career. I wanted It to be solely for fun and because of that, continued to pursue employment in unrelated fields.
However, life tends to take you in directions you never thought or planned for yourself and now I happily work as the office manager at NIAD Art Center and am mother to a beautiful 3-year-old boy. Expression through different mediums has been a substantial part of my life and though I wasn’t able to have everything that money could buy, I had so much more and lacked nothing at all.
