Sandy Rodriguez was born in 1975 in National City, California. She currently lives in the Mar Vista suburb of Los Angeles. She grew up in different cities, including Tijuana, San Diego, and the most influential city to her work: Los Angeles. Her contribution to the art field has been apparent in museums including Los Angeles at Art+Practice, Self Help Graphics, and at The Museum of Contemporary Art. Her work focuses mainly on culture and history. Her artwork portrays the cultural, political, and social change that communities undergo through different periods of time, specifically in the Los Angeles areas. Rodriguez's inspiration was sparked when she took a family trip to Oaxaca, a southern Mexican Region. Whilst she was there, looking through stores she found a red pigment called cochineal, coming from the pre-Columbian era. Prior to this, Sandy Rodriguez had experience with making colors using natural resources such as plants, insects, and oxides. Rodriguez did not know how to use this newfound pigment that was similar to her handmade pigments. She had heard about the uprisings in Ayotzinapa Mexico, with thousands of people protesting and setting the presidential place on fire, where the president Enrique Pena Nieto resided. These uprisings and revolts happened because 43 students from Ayotzinapa were killed by police and gang members. She then decided to compare this historical moment along with the fires in California Hills in her artwork using her bottle of Cochineal. All of her artwork escalated from thereon, pinpointing Latin history, politics and culture. One of her many occupations as an artist include teaching in constituencies and programs to inspire a new generation of artist and to continue pushing the boundaries of art.