Roberto Rafael Navarrete, born in Queens, New York, was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Navarrete and his four siblings are first generation Peruvian Americans. He graduated from Georgia State University in 2011 where he received his Bachelors in Fine Arts with a focus in Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking. His work has been included in several national exhibitions. In 2015, Navarrete received The Graduate Teaching Assistantship at Florida Atlantic University and was awarded The Provost Fellowship 2015/2016, The Rothenberger Scholarship in 2016, The Friedland Research Grant in 2017 & 2018, Thesis & Dissertation Scholarship 2018 and The Community Engagement Initiative Grant 2018. Navarrete currently lives in South Florida and received his Masters in Fine Arts degree in 2018 at Florida Atlantic University with a focus in Painting, Photography and Mixed Media Installations.
Shamanism, Peruvian Heritage, and Sexual Identity are major driving forces in my artwork. My research offers a bridge into the physical, emotional, and spiritual scarring caused by global intolerance towards the LGBTQIA+ community and any form of oppression embedded by patriarchal power. As a maturing Artist, I feel one’s talent, voice and experience as a large responsibility, and through my artwork I strive to express positivity while refusing to keep any part of my identity closeted. This body of work is a collection of resurfaced history and experiences transformed physically by intentionally subverting hyper-masculine materials into knots. My objective is to deconstruct individual knotted cords that make up the fabric of my identity and reconstruct them into an installation. The resulting space offers a visceral experience for the audience that aesthetically explores the body’s transformation as it heals. This healing ritual and gender performativity through reflection; knotting, tearing, and pouring helps me reflect, ingest, let go and heal. The work that I offer are the scars I have collected and embraced. The residue of the final pieces takes place within that reflective, fluid, transitional identity expressing the intersection of the temporality and body that I occupy as a Queer, Latinx Artist of color.