The Frank-Ratchye Project Space is excited to present Brown Girl from the Bay, a new exhibition by studio artist Valeria Olguín (she/her).

Brown Girl from the Bay highlights the cyclical rhythm of life while rejecting the Western notion that time is linear. Cycles are a natural part of life that the human experience cannot escape. They can begin and end in both positivity and negativity, joy and pain. While the joy can be euphoric, the pain can often push you to lose sight of yourself.

The exhibition is “Inspired by my 28th year of life, all the cycles it birthed, and all the cycles it killed. To the moments I lost sight of myself and the way I always found my way back. In grounding myself in what I know; who I am. To all the times I audibly reminded myself, “You are a Brown Girl from the Bay, rooted in México. An artist, a sister, a daughter, a friend, a niece, a cousin, a tia.” “ – Valeria Olguín

Brown Girl from the Bay is a reminder that while life is a pursuit of joy and peace, the pursuit will always be balanced with pain and chaos. To live in truth is to be prepared to never lose sight of yourself. It asks you to question the cycles you are currently existing in, those that are just beginning, and those that have just died. It reminds you that those cycles are a part of you. To face those cycles without fear is to know who you are every step of the way and to remain rooted in those pieces.