ACCRETION: WORKS BY LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN

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.

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.