Sea Suckle

Nancy Rodrigo
Brooklyn, NY
Psoriatic arthritis, Sjögren’s, autonomic neuropathy

My art practice has been a journey of expressing and navigating the pain and symptoms of my illness. I was diagnosed at 35, became disabled by it at 38, and I am now 62. My ongoing project, BIO series, is a colorfully energetic exploration of the natural world through a microscopic lens, using variant colorful compositions in watercolor, a medium I find mediative—acting as a metaphorical means to alleviate symptoms from autoimmune disease. Every composition feels like alchemy, a vehicle to transform my chronic pain into timeless imagery; informed by biology and physiology: tide pools, kelp forests, moss, fungi, and the interconnectedness of all life and matter.