Impressionist and expressionist painter Vincent van Gogh shared the following regarding his work. “I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say, ‘He feels deeply. He feels tenderly.’” When contemporary artist Daniel Sheinfeld Rodriquez speaks about his artistry, his words echo Van Gogh’s. 

“I’m trying to get people to open their hearts and feel something.” 

He continues with affirming his commitment to “building a body of work that is extremely visceral and honest.” With a mindfulness toward emotional expression, he states, “I bring my experiences into the things that I create. For example, if you try to express happiness, you could draw a happy face. But that’s a representation of what happiness is.” The question he continually asks himself is as follows. “How can one truly show what happiness feels like?” 

Further detailing the passion and commitment that he infuses within his art, he explains that he explores invisible forces such as compression, tension and gravity while manipulating matter — wood and concrete for art and precious metals for jewelry — in a way that parallels with powerful emotions such as regret, sorrow and love. 

As a Hawai‘i-Island-based conceptual artist, born in Caracas, Venezuela, Sheinfeld Rodriguez is a member of the collective “Consensual Lack of Reality” with fellow artists Pier Fichefeux, Stephen Freedman and Andrzej Kramarz. Their recent exhibit at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center called ANIMA: Doorways of Perception celebrates the merging of technology with handcrafting techniques to create evocative and culturally rich abstract pieces. 

For one of his larger pieces, Sheinfeld Rodriguez details its creation. “I took first a simple piece of construction lumber and submerged it in a car crushing machine that has a force of 1,500 tons.” He recounts that the piece of wood burst through at a specific place and that the very moment of the bursting through . . . the “explosion” . . . represents the unfathomable feeling of heartbreak — “a moment that is incredibly intense and transforms you in a way that becomes a scar that you carry with you.” 

His works range from largescale installations to contemporary jewelry, but all are forged through intense experimentation processes, later undergoing gradual stages of refinement. With a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Sheinfeld Rodriguez has extensive experience in the field of construction and industrial design. “My main objective with art is to move people to make them feel something. There’s a level of depth and honesty that is ingrained in each one of the pieces I create.” 

He continues, “I’m connected with fire as, for me, it represents calmness in an interesting way. I thrive in chaotic environments. . . . The whole of my work uses elements that I can only control to a certain extent. I cannot control how the wood will crack or break. I cannot control how the wood will change from the embers of charcoal that are passing through. I cannot control how deeply the fire will burn the wood. These are things that lead to a certain randomness or destiny. It’s what allows for each piece to have its own life.” 

A few years ago, he was approached by a German-based company who had seen that he had industrial design experience. They wished to collaborate with him crafting a jewelry line. “I created a small collection that we launched in Berlin, and it was a big success. . . . Natural elements are the spiration behind most of my pieces whether it’s lava rocks and formations to roots and vines.” 

Inspired by the gloriousness of Hawi, Sheinfeld Rodriguez shares that all he creates allows him to connect deeply with essential human emotions and to encourage such connections for all who view his work.

danielsheinfeld.com