Memphis Rodriguez (also Cristina Fletes-Mach) is an American realist painter based in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a former photojournalist from the team that was awarded the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for covering the unrest following the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Her work in documentary photography deeply affected her desire to make art that makes someone feel empathy toward another person. 

She is the daughter of Nicaraguan immigrants who was born and raised in the American South. She is a third culture kid who walked the line between Southern and Latin identity, never finding exactly where she belonged. Her life and work are defined by this liminal space and the constant searching for “home.” Her series of portraits painted on maps is currently on display in the St. Louis airport. She now lives in the Midwest and explores themes of immigration and identity in her work.