SAVE THE DATE | OPENING RECEPTION 9.12.2026, 5-7PM
New works by Angel Castelán
Angel Castelán | "Sanctuary" Exhibition Statement 2026:
"Sanctuary" explores the many forms refuge can take. A relationship, a memory, a place, or connection to one's cultural roots. Working primarily in painting and drawing, my work is based on personal experiences while resisting a singular narrative. Quiet acts of care between partners, domestic rituals, and culturally significant places unfold as interconnected fragments, inviting viewers to decide whether they are witnessing a tragedy, transformation or enduring love.
As a queer Mexican American artist, I draw from personal photographs, memory, and Nahua cosmologies to consider how identity is shaped through both chosen and inherited histories. Locations such as Xochimilco become more than settings; they serve as repositories of memory, ancestry, and belonging, where personal experience and cultural inheritance converge. "Sanctuary" suggests that refuge is not always something we discover, but something we create through intimacy, memory, places, and the stories we choose to inherit, create and preserve.
