Legends Breathe
Legends Breathe: Night Watch (video still)
multi-channel video installation, ongoing
Project Description
Legends Breathe (an ongoing project) explores the power of creativity and the imagination in overcoming traumatic experiences. Based on interviews with different female-identified and non-binary artists about childhood fantasies that assisted them in overcoming trauma, this project speaks to a strategy and methodology of survival activated through the power of creativity. Each video, which are installed together as an immersive installation, explores these individual fantasies, highlighting their uniqueness, their commonalities, and their inherent power. One primary element evident in all the fantasies is a harvesting of strength and transcendence through a deep connection to the natural world. The work is populated by endangered species and threatened habitats, conveying a link between the trauma and healing of our planet to that of the individual. Legends Breathe is an ongoing project that was initially funded in part by a grant from The CreateWell Fund.
“Legends Breathe”
video installation by Allison Maria Rodriguez
in Montserrat Gallery at Montserrat College of Art
curated by Dr. Lynne Cooney
on view January 23 – March 4, 2023
(video documentation by Sue Murad)
scroll down for individual videos stills from videos created up through 2023: from “Water Mythologies” (2018) – “Nature’s Candy” (2023)
Legends Breathe: Where the Water Falls (video still)
multi-channel video installation
Legends Breathe: Fairy Tales (video still)
multi-channel video installation
Legends Breathe: The Lady & the Bear (video still)
multi-channel video installation
Legends Breathe: Water Mythologies (video still)
multi-channel video installation
Legends Breathe: In My Own Backyard (video still)
multi-channel video installation
Legends Breathe: By Her Command (video still)
multi-channel video installation
Legends Breathe: In the Game (video still)
multi-channel video installation
Legends Breathe: Nature’s Candy (video still)
multi-channel video installation
Legends Breathe: Divine Night (video still)
multi-channel video installation
(click here for additional info about Divine Night)
Project Exhibitions
Legends Breathe is an ongoing & growing series – it has been on view as unique, site-responsive iterations of the project in the following exhibitions:
– New England Now: Strange States. exhibition curated by Carolyn Bauer featuring a 3-channel immersive installation from Legends Breathe. Shelburne Museum. Shelburne, VT. May 11 – October 20, 2024. You can visit the Shelburne Museum exhibition page here.
– Legends Breathe. solo exhibition, curated by Dr. Lynne Cooney, Montserrat Gallery, Montserrat College of Art. Beverly, MA. January 23 – March 4, 2023. Visit the top of this page or click this vimeo LINK to see documentation.
– Worlds Within. solo exhibition, Nesto Gallery, Milton Academy. Milton, MA. January 6 – February 25, 2022.
– Subversive Dreams. solo exhibition, curated by Dr. Leonie Bradbury, Emerson Contemporary Media Art Gallery, Emerson College. Boston, MA. August 1 – September 13, 2020. Visit this LINK for additional details.
– Illuminus: New Media Festival (group public art new media festival) – Legends Breathe: Divine Night, an individual piece from the larger project, was commissioned by Illuminus as site specific public art. curated by David Guerra, The Financial District. Boston, MA. 2019. Visit this LINK for additional details.
– Secrets of the Unseen. (two person exhibition with Marie Craig), Fountain Street Gallery. Boston, MA. 2019. Visit this LINK for additional details.