Rosa Navarro

Rosa Navarro Barandica (born 23 March 1955, Barranquilla), is a Colombian photographer and mixed-media artist.

Artwork

R-O-S-A Lenguaje de los Sordomudos, 1981 In 1981 a few professors like Antonio Iginio Caro, Alvaro Herazo and Ida Esbra incentivized Rosa to create her first photography artwork titled R-O-S-A, inspired by body parts as language and the color pink. Letras "R", "O", "S", A", is a reference to her name is sign language. Navarro spells ROSA in sign language with each of the photograph as one letter and colored in pink. This piece inspired her to create other ones like “Huellas en Rosa” and “Una Rosa es una Rosa”. In addition, she created a piece titled "La Amorosa, La Furiosa, La Misteriosa". She was part of a museum exhibition at the Arte Moderno de Medellín museum, "II Salón Arturo y Rebeca Rabinovich", in 1982.

She became interested in the nature of flowers in the work of Paul Gauguin and began to work with her name Rosa, which is also a flower. In her photography she includes herself not because of her name but because of her identity and as a symbol. In certain occasions she also uses the word Rosa and in some she uses the themes and classic metaphors. For example, she used the classic theme of Dafne, who converts into the Laurel tree after Apollo chases her. She uses that theme but also converts herself throughout her art. She converts into a rose from a rose bush. The artwork depicts the artist's face, and two large black roses covering her eyes. In the first photographs the roses begin as small buds, eventually growing into large roses and die.

List of artworks 1981: R-O-S-A Lenguaje de los Sordomudos (in order: R-O-S-A), gelatin silver photograph illuminated with water-based marker, 20.5 x 11 cm each one 1982: Un Rosa es una Rosa, color film photograph, 20 x 25 cm 1982: Nacer y Morir de una Rosa, black and white photograph, 26 x 20.5 cm 1982: Huellas en Rosa, gelatin silver photograph, 19.5 x 25.5 cm 1982: Rosa Rosae, Doble exposure photograph, 48 x 58 cm 1985: Romana, color film photograph, 12 x 18.8 cm, original work: 1m x 1m, 2m x 1m