Laura Rodig was a Chilean educator, rural teacher, supporter of the Mapuche cause, an anti-Franco feminist activist, and a committed agent of social change in her time. She also made an important contribution to the construction of early modern art in Europe. A catalyst of queer networks, Rodig interacted with the most important intellectuals of her time, such as Gabriela Mistral, whom she met in 1916 and with whom she kept a sexual–affective relationship as well as a professional exchange. In addition to travelling together through Chile teaching, she accompanied Mistral to Mexico in 1922 to work on José Vasconcelos’s educational project. The Mexican trip places both women in a scenario of rich and diverse intellectual relationships, but it was also a trigger for their breakup. Although we find them travelling together on various occasions, the distance between Mistral and Rodig widened further over the years. The portrait presented here dates from this first period, reflecting the numerous instances in which Rodig painted the poet. The relationship between both women was also recorded in numerous letters, writings, poems, and notebooks, forming an emotional archive.
This is the first time the work of Laura Rodig is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Gloria Cortés Aliaga
