FR Project Space

The Frank Ratchye Project Space is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Root Division Studio Artist Erik Barrios-Recendez.

Betwixt and Between confronts the social apparatus that determines one’s ability to survive. What happens when inherited understandings of labor and worth collide with the realities of surviving? Artist Erik Barrios-Recendez reflects on the emotions that surface from resisting social structures, and from confronting the reality of his existence in a queer Latino body.

The Frank Ratchye Project Space is pleased to present What is Left Behind, a solo exhibition by Root Division Studio Artist Alumni Edy Cahueque.

What is Left Behind centers the lived experiences of immigrants who work blue-collar jobs and whose labor fundamentally shapes society yet often remains overlooked. Using materials related to blue-collar work such as tile, drywall, and plywood, Cahueque uses this canvas to honor the craftsmanship and resilience carried throughout the everyday lives of these workers. With ongoing ICE raids, heightened surveillance, and the use of racial profiling to target communities of color, Cahueque brings attention to the humanity and vulnerability of immigrant and Latinx communities. This body of work encourages viewers to confront what is left behind when individuals are taken, and to reflect on the sacrifices endured and the persistent strength sustained despite it all.

The Frank Ratchye Project Space is pleased to present Blood Breath Stool, a solo exhibition by Root Division Studio Artist Elaine Ngyuen.

Blood Breath Stool is an excavation into sudden, inexplicable chronic illness. Elaine Nguyen replicates her experiences with doctors examinations by creating abstract shapes she refers to as bugs, a metaphorical reflection of how repetition, mirroring, and pairing become tools for understanding what feels insurmountable.

The Frank Ratchye Project Space is pleased to present Magical / Realism, a group exhibition featuring Root Division Studio Artists: B. Colleen, Edy Cahueque, Itzél Rios-Ellis, Leticia Javier, and Wally A. Corona, curated by PJ Gubatina Policarpio.

Blurring the boundaries between reality and the extraordinary, the works in this presentation integrate uncanny, dreamlike, and sometimes unsettling visions rooted in contemporary life. Informed by political anxieties and personal tragedies, these images reflect a flexible consciousness where the strange, supernatural, and surreal are used to examine social issues such as labor, migration, ecological crisis, power and agency. These artists turn to symbolism and fantasy not as a means to move away from the reality of everyday life but as a way to engage with it more fully and vividly.