Cabrillo College’s ‘La Resiliencia’ celebrates Latino identity, art and community

At the front of Cabrillo Gallery, a terracotta woman stands tall, her form inspired by the Indigenous culture of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Nearby, photographs weave together childhood memories with present-day portraits of immigrant families. 

Together, the works in “La Resiliencia,” the fifth annual installment of Cabrillo’s “LatinXperiencia” series, explore what it looks like to hold onto identity in a world that can pressure people to leave parts of themselves behind.

Cabrillo Gallery curator Beverly Rayner wanted a theme that felt relatable and welcomed a wide range of responses, with a focus on the Latino community’s resilience in the face of racism and anti-immigrant violence. 

“Whether their family’s been here for 150 years or five years, regardless of their legal status, everybody’s being targeted for being an ‘other,’” said Rayner, who started “LatinXperiencia” in 2022. “That takes a special kind of tenacity and also a community effort to survive and help each other out, which I think resonates really strongly with everybody right now.”

Alyssarhaye Graciano, visual arts curator at MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana) in San Jose, served as the guest juror for “La Resiliencia,” selecting works from 24 artists. 

Graciano focused on a central question: “How are we as artists and really, as humans, taking the world in our own hands and being able to process through art?”

She noticed a focus on rest, regeneration and sustainability in the works, some of which use recycled materials like paper pulp, burlap and cardboard.

“A lot of the artists thought about how we’re preserving the natural world and rebuilding the world that we want to see,” she said. “Folks were also thinking of resilience in a different way, which is materiality. How is the artist able to use something that isn’t necessarily looked at as an artistic medium, but can be transformed into a piece of art?”

Rayner, who teaches mixed media and experimental photography at Cabrillo, is excited for students and visitors to interact with the gallery. 

“That’s what I really love to present here: people using media to express themselves, but also using media in ways that are very unique to them and outside the box, so students come in and they’re like, ‘Wow! I never even thought of this,’” Rayner said. “It’s nice as an educational institution to offer those things to expand their possibilities.”

Toward the front of the gallery, Sylvia Rios’ terracotta sculpture “La Maya Vive” welcomes visitors. Rios, who teaches ceramics at Cabrillo, said her inspiration came from trips her family has taken to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

She wanted to represent the “nobility, beauty and independence” of Mexico’s Indigenous communities.

“Going down into the Yucatán Peninsula, you see Indigenous people who continue to be very self-possessed, thoughtful and connected to people we in this country have no way of being connected to,” Rios said. “The minute you arrive in the United States, you have to assimilate, lose your language, lose your culture, and become American, which is pretty vague.”

Multidisciplinary artist Stephanie Barajas is exhibiting three pieces from her photo series “DACAmented,” weaving together current portraits of mothers and their children with childhood photos taken in Mexico. 

Barajas started the series to process what happens to someone’s identity and memory when they “navigate a very complex immigration system” as a child. Pieces get lost; old memories and new ones overlap and intertwine.

“I wanted to connect both the past and the present with my subjects’ strength, courage and resilience. I believe that immigrants are some of the most resilient beings just because of that journey,” Barajas said. “Imagine leaving everything you know behind, searching for a better future, and all you have with you is hope.” 

Barajas, who is based in San Jose and grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, said she saw many people immigrate to the United States but never fully understood what it took. 

“When ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is targeting Latinos disproportionately, it was really important for me to uplift the individuals and the families who are still going to work, who are still trying to live their lives amidst the fear,” Barajas said. “I think that is truly because of the resilience of our people.”

Graciano said the exhibit celebrates the “breadth of cultures” within the Latino community, and she hopes visitors gain a sense of hope and inspiration from “La Resiliencia.”

“We’re not all alone in today’s world,” Graciano said. “Folks around us are also thinking about how we can take care of the world around us and take care of ourselves as individuals who are part of this bigger narrative.”

Rayner agreed, saying the artwork lends itself to empathy and conversation about diversity of cultural experiences. 

“A show like this helps people see different communities’ experiences in such a way that they’re able to relate to it on a very human level or an intellectual level where it spurs thoughts and conversations,” Rayner said. “This is what education is all about.”

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