Rodrigo Bustamante is a Cuban-American visual artist and writer

Rodrigo’s first muse was the ocean. While his dad and brothers—avid fishermen and freedivers—were captivated by what lurked beneath the surface, Rodrigo was always more intrigued by what lay beyond the horizon. He nurtured this passion for exploration by infusing a sense of adventure into the mundane, harnessing his childlike wonder, and expressing deep reverence for the places he encountered.

Rodrigo studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain scholar, pursuing an interdisciplinary curriculum that included courses in photojournalism, environmental justice, social change, and borderlands literature. He earned a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Global Studies in May 2020.

His academic experiences broadened his artistic perspective, inspiring him to find his voice through mixed media production. He directed a documentary about the growth of soccer in Cuba, reflected on the personal impact of environmental degradation, studied traditional Indian textile-making practices, and co-founded a sustainability-focused student arts venture.

Rodrigo is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His coursework spans history, anthropology, comparative literature, and documentary studies. Deeply committed to the environmental humanities, Rodrigo’s research aims to unravel the historical, cultural, and ecological threads that constitute Cuba’s diverse landscapes and how these elements, individually and collectively, are represented in visual art.