Conversations with Rolando Vazquez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rolando Vazquez

Hi Rolando, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am a Cuban artist and professor, and love brought me to this country.

I studied at the San Alejandro Academy of Art in Havana, Cuba, and at the Havana Pedagogical Institute, where I became a teacher—actually, a good teacher. I worked twice at the René Portocarrero Screen Printing Workshop and at the prestigious San Alejandro Academy of Art in Havana. There, I trained many young artists and created numerous projects where everyone was a protagonist. I taught autistic children and led an artistic-pedagogical project called Cascarilla. I have exhibited my work in many countries around the world, and my pieces are part of prestigious collections worldwide.

While working at the Experimental Workshop of Graphic Arts in Havana, I met a wonderful woman and fell in love with her. A beautiful romance began, which continues to this day. I followed her to the United States and later to Mexico. We lived there, enjoying life and art, until we returned to her home base in Atlanta, where we now live and where I develop my work as an artist.

Currently, I am navigating the challenging art world and adapting to this society, which is very different from the one where I was born. In January of this year, I received my U.S. residency, and little by little, I am integrating into this city, which offers many pleasant things for me. I have developed various bodies of work and participated in different collective projects. The most recent will be on September 21 at GERART-GALLERY.

I have my art studio, Vazquezstudio17, at home, where I research and create my work as an artist. I’ve also collaborated as a teacher with the Los Niños Primero foundation, leading creative workshops for children aged 6 and 7.

I am the proud father of a beautiful young girl named Luna, who lives in Cuba. My wife and I love cooking Cuban food and inviting our many friends over, a group that continues to grow every day.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The journey always has its ups and downs, but with my wife’s help, it has been a pleasant one. My life in Cuba was difficult but also interesting. I am the ninth of ten siblings and the only one who pursued an artistic path. Since I left Cuba for good, I’ve had to adapt to new ways and cultures, but challenges have always arisen along the way. For anyone, trying to live in another country is both difficult and exhausting.

My greatest fortune has been having the unconditional support of my dear Haydee. Despite everything, adapting to a new environment has been extremely hard and tiring, and being Cuban often feels like a stigma. The language barrier, discrimination from some people, and the lack of official documentation always create an imbalance.

At this moment, I’m focused on learning, overcoming all these obstacles, and trying to grow in the art world. I believe my sincerity as an artist, my originality as a creator, and all the spirituality of my homeland are my greatest strengths. There are some things we don’t share because many people prefer to hear only the beautiful stories.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

I graduated in sculpture and drawing from the San Alejandro Academy of Art in Havana, Cuba. However, I am an interdisciplinary artist who moves easily across various art forms, including sculpture, painting, printmaking, ceramics, video art, and performance. I am a multifaceted and prolific artist, working with almost any material and exploring many possibilities in the creative process.

For example, since arriving in Atlanta, I have developed different series using found objects from rivers, railroad tracks, and city streets. Almost all the works created in Atlanta reflect the city’s spirit, functioning as a sort of urban logbook, while maintaining the spiritual and ancestral richness of my Afro-Cuban roots. I enjoy walking and observing people and situations I encounter on the streets, a habit I have in any place I visit or live. I recall once going to the Grand Canyon and constructing crucifixions with materials found in the desert.

In Atlanta, I have a series of over 40 masks titled “Everyday Faces,” which are faces of people I often encounter during my long walks, made from waste materials collected from the rivers I clean. “Rust” is another series created with nails from the long railroad lines in Atlanta. This series, still in progress, tells personal and family stories, with the city’s energy captured in the sculpture titled “Gad.”

My most recent series, “Men Don’t Play with Dolls,” features sculptures made from ceramics and assembled with various dissimilar objects and materials. Printmaking, particularly xilography, is another technique I greatly enjoy, whether in small, medium, or large formats. Painting with airbrushes or stencils also appeals to me, and I am working on a small series titled “Autumn” for an exhibition in November. Photography is also a plastic resource I use to convey ideas, as seen in the series “Winks” and “Findings.”

I have also had the opportunity to work with more definitive materials, such as marble and iron. An example of these pieces is “Nautilus,” a marble sculpture measuring three meters by three meters by one meter, weighing eight tons.

I believe I am known for being an irreverent and problematic artist, characterized by my sincerity and creativity. I feel very happy (though I don’t like the word pride) for the excellent students I had, now almost all friends, for my great daughter Luna, and for the warrior companion that life placed on my path. My sensitivity to life and art, my ability to create and see beauty in almost everything around me, makes me feel different. I am a human being, an authentic artist who diverges from stereotypes and aims to leave a mark on this earth.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Unfortunately, I have had very little support, and my work has not yet been widely recognized in this city. Little by little, I have been working to promote it, but I feel there is still much to be done.

I would love to share the knowledge I have gained over the years and to have the support of galleries or other institutions. I am open to exchanges between artists and cooperation. As they say in African traditional religions, “one stick does not make a forest.” Anyone interested in collaborating or learning more about my work can visit my website: www.rolando-vazquez.com, where they can view some of my work. Although my work continues to grow day by day, despite not having all the resources and support that any artist would wish for, I am focused on applying for grants and trying to show my work in some galleries across the country. While not all galleries may be suitable for my work, I reiterate that I am open to collaboration with printmaking workshops, art schools, exchanges between artists, the excellent SCAD art school, Beltlineatlanta, the museum of the African diaspora in Atlanta and different universities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rolando-vazquez.com
• Instagram: @r.vazquez.h

Image Credits
Foto#1 Karen Graffeo
Foto#2 Jose manuel mesias
Foto#3 Guillermo rodriguez marberti
Foto#4 Jose Antonio Rey
Foto#5 marcel Lam
Foto#6 Luna vazquez
Foto#7 Laura Suarez
Foto#8Rolando vazquez
Foto#9 Adia ross