La Semilla Despues Del Fuego
Franco Castilla
Opening reception Saturday 03.04.23
7pm-10pm
Special evening hours Saturdays
6 - 10pm through 3/25!
In La Semilla Despues del Fuego, Franco Castilla draws on memories of his family’s
displacement from Nicaragua due to a communist revolution sparked by the Frente Sandinistade Liberación Nacional. The artist engages with the dislocation and exclusion experienced upon arrival in the United States and integrates becoming a naturalized citizen with an awareness of American imperialist interventions in Nicaragua and beyond. Selfhood is examined by contemplating the effects of trauma on his body and psyche and a process of amelioration facilitated through meditation and other modalities of healing. Moreover, the work considers an infancy shaped by Catholicism transmuted into a spiritual practice with deep connections to the natural California landscape.
Works in the front gallery include black velvet paintings based on family photographs painted in Tijuana, Mexico by Enrique Felix and Zenon Jimenez. Several sculptural pieces incorporate oak galls foraged by the artist while hiking in the Los Angeles area. The exhibition continues on the back patio, the location of a mixed-media installation featuring hand-woven tapestries, the fragrance of burning frankincense, horn speakers, and an experimental-cinematic soundscape. The soundscape was created using audio fragments found on the internet and begins anew on the hour and the half hour.
Franco Castilla (Managua) has a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA from
Ohio State University. He has exhibited locally at LAST Projects and LACE. He lives and works
in Los Angeles.
Open Saturdays 3/4 through 3/25, 6 - 10pm or by appointment.
