Issay Rodriguez (b. 1991, Philippines) obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and was awarded the Outstanding Thesis Award and Gawad Tanglaw upon graduation in 2013. As a student she has been a scholar of the Jose “Pitoy” Moreno Foundation and has also studied as an exchange scholar at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, under the auspices of the French Government. She has exhibited her works in Hanoi, Ho Chi Mihn City, Jakarta, Taipei, Singapore, New Delhi, Dubai, Manila and Paris.

Together with Katherine Nuñez, Rodriguez showed work in the main exhibition Viva Arte Viva at the Central Pavillion of the 57th Venice Biennale. In 2017, she participated in Asia in Darwin’s research and residency project: VANISHING IN THE PROCESS: An Exploration of Dream States and Related Symbolism taking place between LIRSpace in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, & 98B COLLABoratory in Manila. A year after, she conducted a local artist residency with Bellas Artes Projects in Bagac, Bataan.

Rodriguez’s portfolio of artworks includes installations, drawings,prints, objects, and videos that allude to tactile histories. Her work connects fragments of memories, places, and identities that allow her to reflect on image and object productions within the context of the everyday. She views her work as an extension of the audience’s reflexive investigations and narratives extracted from archival research as well as non-digital human interactions. Rodriguez explores new modes of art productions that are tactile, sensory, at times participatory, in this age of instantaneous but distressing world filled with optical pleasure.

As an extension of her art practice, Issay works through CC, a collaborative art initiative co- founded with artist Anjo Bolarda. Their recent projects include KPC (Kamatis Power Corp.), Metu Adwa Atlu and B+ ;a research project touching upon bees and food security issues.