ACCRETION: WORKS BY LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN
Santa Barbara Museum of Art presents the exhibition Accretion: Works by Latin American Women, with works from artists from the United States but with roots in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru.

Like the pearl that forms from the accretion of materials over time, the works in this exhibition contain the aggregated experiences of the artists—women living and working in the United States but with roots in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. However, unlike a pearl, their layers—comprised of earth, ceramic tiles, paint, photographs, stories, art history, and the artists' own lives as material—neither are smooth nor conceal themselves. Weaving a rich tapestry of diverse perspectives, Accretion's expressions of family bonds, immigration, labor and self-discovery draw attention to the intersected cultures, temporalities and histories that constitute the layers of being.
One standout piece is Patricia Iglesias Peco's Lavinia Mariposa (2024). In this work, Peco draws inspiration from the 1999 novel Reina Amelia by Marosa di Giorgio (Uruguayan, 1932 – 2004). The painting's title references the novel's mystical, enigmatic figure Lavinia, who is given the opportunity to work as a butterfly in a garden.
Allegra Pacheco's Untitled (Vessel with Glyphs) (2024) appears as a long-lost artifact, untouched for centuries. Its handmade form, glazed with copper and organic minerals, mimics the encrustations of seashells and sediment, referencing the passage of time. Carved into the surface are gladiator-like figures, which emulate the drill stances found in instructional manuals on boxing form and combinations.
-
Allegra Pacheco, Untitled (Vessel with Glyphs), 2024. From the series "Bone Ash." Ceramic. Courtesy of Craig Krull Gallery and Sloan Projects. © Allegra Pacheco.
-
Jay Lynn Gomz, Niqhtsweeper, 2019. Acrylic on cardboard. Courtesy of the Artist and Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles. © Jay Lynn Gomez. Photo: 2022 Yubo Dong, ofstudio
-
Patricia Iglesias Peco. Lvinia Mariposa, 2024. Oil on panel. Courtesy of the Artist and Fraçois Ghebaly. Photo: Paul Salveson.
-
Daiana Yasenia Alvarado, Lluvia, 2023. Ceramic. Courtesy of Diana Yesenia Alvarado and Jeffrey Deitch Los Angeles. Image courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch Los Angeles. Photo Charles White.
-
Jackie Amézquita, Oro Negro (Black Gold), 2024. Soil sourced from Los Angeles neighborhoods, masa (corn dough), salt and cal (limestone) frame with copper. Courtesy of the artist and Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo: 2024 Yubo Dong,
ofstudio. © Jackie Amézquita.
-
Carlee Fernández, Hues from Brown to Pink, 2010. C-print, edition of 3. SBMA, Museum purchase, 2014.58. Image courtesy of the artist and Inman Gallery, all rights reserved to the artist.
In Jay Lynn Gomez's Nightsweeper (2019), a silhouette is thrown into relief by a storefront's brightness a partial example of chiaroscuro. The sweeper is suggested through swift brushwork similar to that of painters J.M.W. Turner (English, 1775-1851) and Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798-1863). The chosen canvas –humble cardboard– reflects the Chicana/a sensibility rasquachismo, which the artist describes as "making things with what you have." Despite the labor represented, this painting is not about work but about the person behind the work the individuals we encounter every day, whose output we enjoy but who often are unrecognized.
This exhibition also includes works by artists Carlee Fernández, Isabel Barbuzza, Estefania Ajcip, Ilana Savdie, Diana Yesenia Alvarado, Evelyn Quijas Godínez, Deanna Barahona, Jackie Amézquita, Harmonia Rosales, and Clare Rojas.