Joan Daniel Cordova Rodriguez

Lamar Dodd School of Art

Artwork title: Alienated in the Red Clay Land That Birthed Me, They’ve Now Crowned Me “the King of No Man’s Land”
acrylic on paper | 46 x 35 inches

Tell us about the work that you have submitted.
It is about humanity’s constant alienation of “the other,” and about this other’s struggle to survive in a society that unconsciously strives for homogeneity and assimilation. It deals with the historical and current disenfranchisement of peoples in an abundant yet increasingly fragmented world.

How do you describe your work and practice?
Unaware of my origins, my work exists in the mythology and stories I’ve created for myself. It is imagined yet reflects our fabricated realities. Regarding my art practice, I consider myself a multimedia creative. Most of my paintings are conceived in my readings and writings, often extracted from my daydreams and personal experiences.

What motivated you to apply to the AXA Art Prize?
I was motivated by the desire for my work to reach a wider audience and to ignite conversations in a world that seems to hear but rarely listens. I dream of partaking in the global art conversation and developing a sustainable art practice. The AXA Art Prize seemed to be a step closer to realizing those dreams.

What inspires your work?
Stories told generation after generation, from my great-grandmother to my mother, to my siblings and I, have provided the fundamental fuel for much of my work. I am also deeply interested in the elevation of vernacular visual expressions, world mythology, politics, sex, equality, humanity’s power to create realities and futures, the magic in nature and the many manifestations of god(s).

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