Visual Arts |

This is in Lieu of Flowers

Amelia Rodriguez

See it On Campus: Level 1

Visitor Info

room D1362, first floor sculpture studio :)

While there are various different narratives, conceptions, and motifs that ring through my installation “This is in Lieu of Flowers”, the most prominent theme is childhood. By crafting a mobile made structurally of only tinfoil, hung from the ceiling by tire chains and adorned with my own stuffed animals, the dualities are slightly bizarre. is it soft, like the plushies that have been slept on, sweat on, wrung through the washing machine and hung to dry hundreds of times? Or is it crunchy? Heavy and sharp like the tinfoil its crusted in and the tire chains it hangs from? The faint glow of fake candles allows for just enough light to read the text on the pillow, but hardly much more. The air filled mattress floats upon four wry tinfoil legs anchored to the ground by bricks. A handwoven blanket that is slightly too small adorns the bed. Big enough to keep you warm but small enough to leave you cold. The pillow itself, dirty and tattered, fits inside a pristine white pillowcase. Embroidered with an adorable dog and repulsive text, further highlighting the installations dualities and parallels.

detail shot of text and image embroidered on pillowcase

Amelia Rodriguez

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Amelia completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She has exhibited at Arts Commons in Calgary, Alberta as well as multiple shows within Emily Carr. Preparing to delve deeper into residency opportunities post-undergrad, Amelia is eager and ecstatic to continue her artistic journey. Through pathways of poetry, painting, printmaking, installation, and sculpture Amelia is overflowing with ideas that imitate childish imagery alongside deeper, more thought provoking text. Her collected materials bring an ounce of humbleness to the work. Everyday objects turned into artwork. Her paintings specifically are confronted as “aesthetically resilient”. They have been called tacky, ugly, and most prominently “kitschy”. By walking the fine line between childish and high art, Amelia has garnered an audience of people who appreciate the naive quality in her works. People who maybe were held back from dreaming too much as a child, and now they have adult problems and childish repair tactics.

Her work appears airy and soft, while really being heavy and heartfelt. Merging ideologies between never and forever. Time and memory always play a key role. Amelia currently lives and works on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh(Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

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