We were lucky to catch up with Juliana Rodríguez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Juliana, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
For me, being successful as an artist in any category (I’ll split it here into my two biggest passions, film and digital art/photography) means freedom of creativity, because unfortunately, if you can’t create what you really want, what’s the point? But I understand the point of the question, very often other artists wrote to me asking how they can become a successful artist like me, one who can create whatever they want and sell it and it is not an easy thing, for sure, but you have to do your thing and be constant. Don’t get carried away by the latest trend at least if you really want to because as the old saying goes “what’s easy comes, what’s easy goes.” Do what you really want to do, do it, and then address your audience. Try to communicate with them and talk to them. The true meaning of art lies in communication.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hello, I’m Juliana Rodríguez, an Argentinian film director and visual artist who has lived in Raleigh, North Carolina for 9 years. I’m probably best known for my digital photography project called Revolver Dolls, where I use Barbie dolls to create different sets, narratives and concept art. I have exhibited in several art galleries around the world and this project began in 2009 when I combined my love for doll collecting with cinematographic direction. As soon as I started posting my work on social media and people were asking me about exhibitions and the possibility of selling my artwork, I started exhibiting and selling it. I was surprised, it wasn’t something I premeditated, it just happened and I couldn’t stop it afterwards, fifteen years passed with Revolver Dolls and this year I finally took a little break to go back to directing films with actors and I really needed to tell stories in this other format and with real people. I just finished with my indie cinema production company Revolver Producciones my first narrative short film in 15 years called “The Corpse” starring Bryce Landes and Chanel Young and it is doing very well at film festivals around the world. And more recently, just two weeks ago, I finished filming my first unfinished fiction feature film called “Eternal son” starring the incredible Argentinian actors Damián Albariño, Belén Sosa and Alexia Moyano. The funny thing about this last film is that I didn’t travel to Argentina, I hired a film crew in Buenos Aires to film for me, I sent them the script, I did rehearsals with the actors via Zoom and then I sent them the storyboard and the technical script and it turned out great. I’m not going to lie, I wish I was there, but I already had some art exhibitions of Revolver Dolls planned ahead of time and I didn’t want to put off finishing that movie for another year. Of course I had to change the script a little, you can imagine filming the main actor again 15 years later and I couldn’t even find other cast members and I had to incorporate new characters into the plot, the actresses Alessandra Waitomo and Lis Fernández were the last two members to join “Eternal Son”. I can’t wait for you to see it! It’s like a strange mix between soap opera and thriller.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I always dreamed of creating timeless images that could transport the viewer to a suspended moment, like a time machine. I always admired the kind of art that can achieve that. I always believed that making art was a way to pursue immortality. And when I think of immortality I think of the figure of the doll. When I started the Revolver Dolls project I wanted to give life to my lifeless dolls, now I want to give life to the viewer when they look at my work.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice
A year ago I created an artwork for a particular Nft photography contest launched by a very famous international art gallery. I was selected over some other artists and it didn’t go well at all. It is very long to talk in detail, but I will say the experience I got from all this, nowadays and especially in this Nfts world, the only one who can market the artwork is the artist himself. Is more difficult? I’m not sure because after all this back and forth from this experience, I could see so many basic errors that I could surely handle better myself and I am quite sure that if the sale of that work had been exclusively in my hands at the beginning I would sell it, something that the gallery could not do with my works and with the rest of the works in the campaign. Most art galleries today are not what they used to be and only keep one name, we as artists should be more careful in which hands we put our artworks, and even I would say don’t waste your time, sell it yourself, unfortunately the figure of the art collector and the art dealer and even the art gallery no longer exists, they are optical illusions of an extinct world.
I believe in Nfts, I think it’s perfect for digital artists like me, there is usually a breakdown between the digital piece and its translation to printed paper or canvas and then its legitimacy. The problem, as far as I could see, there is no real collectors’ market, it is still too green, but if there is any future for art, it is there, for sure. I haven’t been able to delve into that world yet, but I’m sure I will in the near future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://instagram.com/revolver.producciones
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/revolverdolls
- Twitter: @revolverdolls
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@revolverdolls
- Other: [email protected]
Image Credits
Revolver Dolls (Juliana Rodriguez)