Abel Rodríguez
Terraza Alta V
Abel Rodríguez’s precise botanical illustrations, such as Terraza Alta V, are drawn from memory and knowledge acquired through oral traditions; they are the visions of someone who sees the potential of plants as food, material for dwellings and clothing, and for use in sacred rites. Often, his “botanical plates” include written information like the color and taste of the bark, the season in which it blooms, where it grows and at what time of the year, both in his native Muinane language and in Spanish. For example, the drawing Ciclo anual del bosque de la vega (Seasonal changes in the flooded rainforest) is a calendar tracking the changing appearance and life of the inundated forest. And the work Árbol de la vida y de la abundancia (Tree of life and abundance) tells the story of the creation of the jungle and the origin of the world. Untrained in illustration or writing, Rodríguez began drawing the forest from memory. From giant trees to small rodents, his vividly detailed illustrations are deeply time-specific. At a glance, many of his pencil and ink landscapes appear to be the same. But after extended observation one notices that every element, from leaf shapes to animal locations to flowers, change in accordance with the month and season the artist is depicting. For Rodríguez, an internationally recognized plant expert, these drawings are a means of recovering and sharing his knowledge of plants of the Amazon gained through teachings from his grandfather, a healer, and nearly seventy years of observation.