My Personal Backstory

On a Spanish mountain side, the olive farm that the Rodríguez family has lived in for 157 years tells a story that spans over five generations, filled with beautiful antiques that reflect Spain’s colonial past and American-Indigenous affiliation.

Walk into this Andalusian farmhouse and two facts become quickly apparent: this is the home of collectors, and also the home of a serious lover of history. Belonging to the Rodríguez family since 1865, the villa-styled house sprawls over a hillside overlooking the mountainscape.

My memories growing here taking care of my Uncle’s beautiful dappled Andalusian horses made me feel like a true Spaniard, but I was born in London. Sent to language school in the English countryside where I had the quintessential British upbringing. I am the daughter of the Lombardi scion from Brazil and the Rodríguez Taíno-Spanish family. I’ll never be English. Yet the colonial history attached to every Latin person is a conflicting thing. This is why my art juxtaposes colonial art and Indigenous art to encompass the true amalgamation of the Latin identity.

Sharing the same blood as both the colonisers and the colonised — Can any Latin American really be proud of our Spanish blood?

Where my loyalties lie is crucial, not just during the World Cup where my family insist on Spain/Brazil paraphernalia, but also to an innate authenticity to myself and as homage to my ancestors. My ancestors in particular holds much weight for me.

While strolling the Andalusian villa, observing the relics of Rodríguez past, I noted the acknowledgement of the Spaniards who had been on the right side of history. Bartolomé de las Casas for instance. And also my Native American family who were represented in fabrics, patterns and artefacts but rarely stories or imagery.

I ferociously began researching my Indigenous roots from my Grandmother who is Caribbean Taíno, to discover majority of the Indigenous history had been lost.

There were no gallant storytelling methods for myself to share with the next generation. Only campfire word-of-mouth. To ensure Indigenous history was cherished and immortalised I decided to narrate some Indigenous milestones through art in an empowering way for all onlookers.

My relationship with art has been unusual. I was trained professionally as a Fine-Artist and studied every form of art from performing arts to digital arts, even advertising design. But nothing sparked me quite like the occurrence of George Floyd in the media.

Usually I’m rather reluctant to paint, due to previously renouncing the “art scene” because my bête noire is art snobs. Despite this, I was compelled to create meaningful paintings during the tumultuous time and conversation around diversity in the pandemic.

Since then, I have used art to raise awareness about equality, Asian rights, Indigenous heritage as well as donating to Centrepoint for homelessness after auctioning my Diana and Meghan canvas painting. Quite naturally, Indigenous art would then be a continuation of this fundraising — the birth of my artivism.