Allá nos vemos translates to “see you there”. In the U.S., we might say “goodbye” or “see you later,” but those south of the border and beyond say, “see you there.” They don’t know how long it will take or where the journey will take them, but the hope of reunion, or reencuentros, hangs in the air.
On Sept. 25, the gallery opening of “Reencuentros: allá nos vemos/See you there” was packed. The exhibit, dedicated to the memory of family and home, connects the past to the present.
Fedella Lizeth, whose family comes from Nicaragua, has been honing her photography and documentarian skills for the last eight years. This current work honors family, cultural heritage and a journey through time and place. Through conversations with relatives and stored-away, never-before-seen photographs, Lizeth crafts a story about distant connection.
“My relationships with my family are not perfect, and my relationship with our greater society is not perfect either,” Lizeth said. “However, to be Central American feels powerful, resilient, and I feel proud that I have a set of ancestors from a beautiful land that underwent revolution in the land of volcanoes and ocean. I feel proud that someone eventually decided to come to this place, that seemingly does not want us here, because they asked for one thing I think we all want, even if it looks different, a space to feel safe.”
Lizeth reflected on how they couldn’t ask others to open up and share their story without sharing their own family’s history first.
“If I am going to ask my community for its openness and vulnerability as I stand there with my camera, then I have to do some sort of vulnerability shadow work too,” Lizeth said. “My intention always is to place untold, overlooked narratives of mostly marginalized communities, especially within my hometown, San Diego, to the very front of the stage.”
Celeste Hernández’s first work in the gallery is a tribute to an apartment shared with a former partner and their cat. The lace curtains obscure the immediate impression, forcing the viewer to brush away the fabric to observe. Hernández mused that they wanted people to interact with the work. While many traditional galleries contain art that is not meant to be touched, guests of the opening were invited to fully engage with the art in a hands-on way.
Jamil G. Baldwin, whose parents are from Bogotá, Colombia and Cleveland, Ohio, explores the interconnectedness of neighborhoods in southern California and the people that live there. Connecting identity and memory, Baldwin’s work greets viewers as they walk into the gallery. Large steel safety gates, similar to ones found across California and beyond, can be opened to reveal scenes of people living their everyday lives, caught in the moment the door is open.
Around the gallery, viewers can find stations with slide viewers that give visitors a moment to see the world from different perspectives, inviting them to connect their own experiences and remember that humans are not so different.
Aldo Cervantes, born and raised in Tecate, Mexico, creates art that serves as a visual diary of family, memory and space. In his work, photographs act as inspiration and a connection between past lives and current experiences.
“I try to understand why things unfolded the way they did, and what can be as I leave my mark in this story as a first-generation immigrant,” Cervantes said. “This created many questions that I am still dealing with – what my relationship with faith and religion is, my connection with Mexico, my role as son and a brother, what fatherhood is and could be and what patterns I will carry.”
Artist Elina Gonzalez is a first-generation Mexican-American born and raised in San Diego. Gonzalez’s parents are from Culicán, Sinaloa and Jaral del Progreso, Guanajuato. Their work “Mi Estrella” combines photography with sculptural stars crafted from metal, creating light that shines down on the viewer. The piece tells a story both deeply personal to the artist and relevant to current times.
Alkaid Ramirez traces his family’s past to Mazatlán and Tampico, Mexico. His work dives into immigration, belonging, labor and housing. One piece of Ramirez’s art in the show is built on a background of work orders from the family’s appliance repair business. Over the work orders, a family tree built from wires, connectors and trade-related materials branches out with pride. Polaroids of the family members are nested along the branches, documenting the family’s progress from generation to generation.
Raylene B. Olalde, whose great-grandparents immigrated from Guanajuato, Mexico, said her family’s Hispanic heritage is a story of assimilation in the U.S. Olalde’s work bridges photography and videography, exploring faulty memories and how unstable the past can be if not documented and passed on to the next generation.
“My family and my pondering on my own personal relationships with my loved ones allows me to contemplate wounds and joys and how complex and multi-faceted our loved ones can be,” Olalde said. “I am very inspired by sci-fi and cinema. Through signal and receiver, I’m using different sources of technology as an allegory for generations within a family. Different technologies communicate in their own ways, and some need adaptations to send the message through.”
The exhibition is co-curated by William Camargo, artist and professor at California State University, Fullerton and Alexa Ramírez Posada, Los Angeles-based artist and curator.
The goal of the exhibit is to continue the conversation around the San Diego and Tijuana community and increase accessibility of SDSU students to art by local, early-career artists.
Beyond personal stories, this exhibition showcases photography in forms visitors may not have experienced before. Traditionally, photographs are simply framed and stuck on the wall, but here, images have interactive opportunities. The video displays and sculptural elements showcase how an image can be transformed and spread across mediums.
“Reencuentros: allá nos vemos/See you there” runs from Sept. 25 until Dec. 4 at the University Art Gallery between the Art North & Art South. The gallery is open Tuesdays through Thursdays from noon to 4 p.m.
