by Cynthia Romero

photographs by Melody Parra

Xochitl Rodriguez wears one earring instead of two, prefers walking barefoot and would rather talk to you about Bhutan than about her own work.  Starting this month, the 24 year old  UTEP graduate will begin a year long artist residency in Bhutan.

“I’ve always had a love for Bhutanese culture and I remember being asked by a professor if I wanted to participate in a summer Bhutan seminar in Washington D.C., I went and fell in love, really I did,” Rodriguez said.

While in D.C., Rodriguez said she met Kama Wangdi, a Bhutanese artist who does non-profit work in Bhutan. It was this chance meeting with Wangdi that changed her life.

“I told him how much I loved the culture and spoke to him about my art and what I wanted to do and he sort of just invited me to go to Bhutan and start a project for children,” she said.

Rodriguez spent an entire year writing a dozen artist grants, learning as much as she could about the Bhutanese culture and adapting her own work to the simpler, more organic materials she would be using while in Bhutan.

“I created things like paper boats and fabric kites,” she said. “I sort of uprooted myself and forced myself to use a lot of paper instead of any type of metal simply because I knew I wouldn’t be able to use that over there.”

Rodriguez sits in almost zen-like pose as she describes her tasks during her residency.

“I’m basically going to go over there and teach sculpture to children and I’ll have to create projects for them work on,” she said. “I’m taking tons of books over so that I can share with them.”

There’s a certain disconnect that occurs when Rodriguez speaks about her previous work and her future work. A mention of her last performance, where her entire body was painted black and bottles of white paint dripped on top of her and Rodriguez can’t help but smile.

“I wanted my work to be about process and change because I had to prepare myself for that,” Rodriguez said. “I realize that there’s an entirely different world out there and there is no need for anyone to look at me anymore.”

Rodriguez thought her age would be an issue when she proposed her project to different organizations. Amidst initial doubt, Rodriguez was able to secure a grant for her residency. While the financial aspect of her residency has been taken care of, Rodriguez said being able to translate what she trained herself during her last year in school, will be a challenge.

“The inherent challenge will be there and the lack of materials available,” she said. “It’ll be a great way for me to really discover my potential, I’ll be an alien in a foreign body.”

A free spirit, by her own definition, Rodriguez said the plan after her residency is over is to simply have no plans.

“I’ll have all this information about the Bhutanese culture, all these photographs and stories that it’ll only be natural for me to share with those around me,” she said. “I want to create some sort of exchange program with the art department at UTEP so that others can get a little of what I experienced.”

More than a whim, Rodriguez said being in Bhutan has become a pressing matter for her.

“It’s not so much that I want to be there, it’s more that I feel like I have to be there, I have to transform and essentially let myself be transformed.”