Born in Mexico and based in California’s Napa Valley, Arleene Correa Valencia creates paintings, textiles, and drawings that reflect on patterns of migration and family separation. Her recent work is inspired by the letters that she wrote to her father as a child, during a period when her father had migrated to the United States while Correa Valencia remained in Mexico. Correa Valencia draws on her family’s archives and correspondence to craft a visual language that considers the politics of visibility and the complexities of undocumented immigration.

A former Dreamer, Correa Valencia often incorporates her family’s textiles into the work to commemorate her own border crossing. Her work frequently depicts parents and children in silhouette, rendering them anonymous, as they cross the border. Outlined in thread, these figures appear both present and absent, seemingly in a perpetual state of transition. Correa Valencia’s exhibition features new textiles and drawings, as well as two major paintings, light sculptures, and a sound piece – the artist’s first – installed in the gallery’s Media Room.