Killer Piñatas In Aquatic Environments.

above: Rodolfo Moraga, Gabe as Yaws, 40" x 60" photograph, hand constructed shark piñata and environment

"The Role of Piñatas" is a contemporary photography installation by Rodolfo Moraga that mixes, sculpture, live dioramas, video, sound and photography. Most impressive are the five large-scale photographic images of custom constructed papier-maché pinatas in aquatic habitats. The titles of the pieces subtly reference everything from JAWS to underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau.


above: detail of the Great White Shark piñata in Gabe As Yaws

Moraga gathered friends and artists to construct the large papier-mache killer whales, penguins, great white shark, yellow submarine and mermaid tail. Upon completion, he carefully reconstructed natural environments using similar techniques and materials and shot a series of photographs with interactive models for each sculpture.

Nico as Jack:

Nico as Jack, detail:

Ani as Willy:

Ani as Willy, detail:

Francis as Steve and Marie as Ariel:

Francis as Steve, detail:

Marie as Ariel, detail:


Below are images from the November 2011 exhibit at Canada's Coat Check Gallery:







Rodolfo Moraga was born in 1982 in Guatemala where he later left to study photography in Montpellier, France. The Role of Pinatas is Moraga's first solo exhibition in Canada, so naturally we are very excited to present it to the supporters and interested onlookers of emergent creative talent.

"I am searching for something irreversible, both in the effects of cultural diversity on individual personality and in the basis of my own creation. An evolution in it's most volatile form, questioning the social references that force themselves into the sensibility of the human eye." - Rodolfo Moraga


Rodolfo Moraga