Postcard from Island Holiday artists: Angélica Negrón and Rosaura Rodríguez
This week’s postcard comes from composer Angélica Negrón and artist Rosaura Rodríguez, collaborators on Cosecha, a new SFGC commissioned work that receives its world premiere on our upcoming Island Holiday virtual production on Sunday, December 20 at 3:00 p.m. PST.
Angélica Negrón, composer
Dear Friends of the San Francisco Girls Chorus,
I am thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce myself to you all ahead of the upcoming Island Holiday virtual performance.
My name is Angélica Negrón and I’m a composer, performer, and teaching artist. I’m originally from Puerto Rico but currently live in Brooklyn, and I write music for chamber ensembles, orchestras, and voices, as well as toys, plants, and musical robots. During the 2019-2020 academic year, I had the honor of serving as SFGC's Chorus School composer-in-residence and during this time, I was commissioned to write Cosecha which is inspired by the botanic illustrations of fellow Puerto Rican artist and educator Rosaura Rodríguez.
I met Rosaura through a mutual friend Julio Morales who kept saying how much Rosaura and I had in common. I’d been a fan of her work since the Días comic book she did with Omar Banuchi and have always wanted to collaborate with her.
Can you tell us more about Cosecha?
Cosecha was inspired by Rosaura’s botanic illustrations which showcase plants, tropical fruits, vegetables, and native herbs from Puerto Rico. Rosaura is part of an important movement of young farmers reclaiming Puerto Rico’s agricultural history fostering sustainable practices driven by a deep sense of community and local action which I find very inspiring.
At a difficult time of continuous natural disasters on the island, an ongoing economic crisis, blatant government corruption, and centuries of colonialism, I see in Rosaura’s work a beautiful reminder of the richness of our natural resources which underlines the importance of protecting and nurturing them. This piece is a celebration of Puerto Rico’s gorgeous and delicious natural resources as well as a celebration of the young people who are building resilience through sustainability and advocating for the island’s agricultural sovereignty.
February 2020 World Premiere of Angélica Negrón's SFGC commissioned work I Shouldn't Be Up Here (Rightfully Ours at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts) with Berkeley Ballet Theater and The Living Earth Show.
Can you tell us about your experiences working with young artists?
I’m incredibly inspired by working with young singers and young artists because they usually have very pure and genuine curiosity, as well as a fearless drive to learn new things and share them with others through their art.
I also love hearing about their own experiences and how they connect this to the repertoire they’re learning and the work they’re creating. I feel very grateful to be able to collaborate with young artists that have such exceptional musicianship, commitment, and creativity.
Why is it important to continue practicing music and have online performances in this time of pandemic?
It’s really important to continue making music and performing during the pandemic to continue connecting with others and creating meaningful relationships through these new mediums. There are also new exciting possibilities in exploring these new virtual spaces and reimagining how we create and make music together.
At the same time, there’s an almost urgent need for listeners to hear new music and have new artistic experiences that can not only help us process this challenging time but also invite us into new worlds and consider new possibilities.
Rosaura Rodríguez, artist
How did you become an artist? Tell us about what you've done and what you do now.
I am an artist and educator, working on illustration, comics, and objects in which handcrafted, artisanal traditions coincide with contemporary practices. My narrative-illustrative work has been recognized by the publication of my comic, Temporada, as well as Días, co-written and co-illustrated with Omar Banuchi, other graphic novels, and many book covers. I work mainly with ink and watercolor, creating pieces in which botanical illustration, landscape, and contemporary daily stories converge.
My work intends to reveal both the crudeness of daily life and the idyllic face of nature. I am currently researching tropical and Puerto Rican sources of color in nature by creating natural watercolors, inks and dyes and connecting this with Puerto Rico’s history and context. I am also working on illustrating and editing a political and historic graphic narrative book with Días Cómic, titled “Rapiña/Carroña”
I have always been involved in art-making, one way or another, since I was a child. Through my teenage and college years I took classes and actively created illustrations and stories. I suppose this happened as a natural connection between my studies in literature and education, and my interest in expression through visual arts. I started documenting daily life scenes and people around 2009, and it has since become a passion and a career. I am interested in the mundane, in nature and people.
Can you tell us more about the specific work Angélica was inspired by?
Cosecha was inspired by the series Muestrario Botánico Tropical. This was a project where I collected and illustrated several plants and fruits that grow in Puerto Rico for their aesthetic, medicinal, or culinary value. It presents a few of the plants around me to which I can relate. This contextualization is important to me, to recognize these resources as our neighbors and friends.
Select illustrations from Muestrario Botánico Tropical that inspired Cosecha.