Aya Rodriguez-Izumi
Recreation and Violence
November 15–December 21, 2025
Opening reception Saturday, November 15, 3-5 PM
TURLEY is pleased to present Recreation and Violence, a solo exhibition by Aya Rodriguez-Izumi. In this body of recent work, Rodriguez-Izumi explores issues of militarization, occupation, and recreation, specifically in Okinawa, Japan where the artist was born. A series of photo collages explores the concept of “militourism”, an idea crystalized by the late Teresia Teaiwa that points to the phenomenon of war and militarization, paving the way for tourism and obscuring histories of violence. In this series, Rodriguez-Izumi dissects images of protest, leisure, and the everyday moments where military occupation overlaps with tourist play and civilian life. Rodriguez-Izumi explodes images into multiple works that examine these dynamics in palettes influenced by enhanced vision technology like infrared and night vision.
Along with these collages, Rodriguez-Izumi presents a series of large scale mixed media works that are connected to her longterm project based on the book “Okinawa’s Tragedy: Sketches from the Last Battle of WWII” written by William T Randall and illustrated by her father, artist José Rodríguez. In these works, Rodriguez-Izumi combines screen printing and pastels to explore those original illustrations, creating layered interventions that extend and collaborate with this legacy.
These works on paper are complimented by an audio work created by Douglas Paulson that blends field recordings from Okinawa, transporting audiences to the soundscape that these works are based in, as well as a reading room with a curated collection of books related to Okinawa from the artist’s personal library.
Aya Rodriguez-Izumi, Misalignment on Zamami Island (Militourism Series), 2025, archival inkjet prints, paper, matte and frames, 49 x 19 inches
Aya Rodriguez-Izumi
I work with stories that risk erasure and the people they originate from. My work is rooted in ancestral histories from the Okinawan and Afro-Atlantic diaspora. From these origins, I expand with a transnational and interdisciplinary approach to investigate hybrid experiences of occupation and migration with a focus such instances on islands. Through installation, sculpture, public works, drawings, text, video and social engagement I trace their impacts on local and global communities. I often collaborate with communities in which a work will stand, sharing authorship and engaging in group making and conversation though workshops. My works are often colorful, and remix recognizable everyday materials as an entry point for viewers. Beads, chainlink fencing, fabrics, watercolor, spoken word and interactive activations are combined to offer layered encounters. As an artist and educator who’s practice intersects multi-sensory approaches, narrative history and community engagement, I amplify stories that need visibility while inviting audiences to interact, relate and contribute.
Aya Rodriguez-Izumi, Floating in Zamami (Militourism Series), 2025, Archival inket prints, paper and adhesive, 44 x 18 inches
AYA RODRIGUEZ-IZUMI is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work blends sculpture, community engagement and documentation to explore retention of collective history, cross-cultural identity and histories that risk erasure. She was born in Okinawa, Japan, and grew up between that island and East Harlem, NY, where she currently holds a studio. She highlights narratives that need visibility through projects presented in venues like El Museo del Barrio, the Taipei Fine Art Museum, The Aldrich Museum, the NUS Museum in Singapore and The Children’s Museum of Manhattan among others. She has mounted public projects that collaborate with local communities through fellowships at Franconia Sculpture Park, Socrates Sculpture Park, Artist Alliance Inc, the 2023 Romantic Route 3 Triennial in Taiwan, the 2024-25 Yanbaru Art Festival in Okinawa and the 2025 Singapore Biennale. She earned a BFA in Fine Arts from Parsons the New School for Design and an MFA in Fine Arts from The School of Visuals Arts. Aya centers community building in her practice and brings this sensibility to her teaching in SVA’s MFA Fine Art Department as well as her work as a board member at A.I.R. Gallery.