Niña

StolenSpace Gallery

7 September - 1 October

This exhibit is an exploration of confronting memories and experiences from Enriquez’s childhood, and how the creative process provided courage to confront her challenges of the past. Sofía Enriquez is a Mexican-American Fine Artist based in Southern California. Enriquez’s visual language includes simplified portraiture that is inspired by androgyny, traditional catholic paintings, and “Spanglish” phrases that comment on her cultural diversity growing up in the United States. Weaving bold elements of paisley, faces, and graphics, she creates fluid-like compositions which evoke a sense of movement and timelessness.

This exhibition is a confrontation of the feelings of fear and powerlessness faced in Enriquez’s childhood. Now, as an adult, Enriquez reflects on some of those complicated feelings of loneliness, suicidal thoughts, and bad habits she developed that helped her disassociate. Enriquez found comfort in her trinkets, toys, pets, gaming, and eventually painting. Painting gave her the ability to create a fantasy world and the safe space she longed for.

“Niña is an exploration of memories that shaped the person I am today. Each piece in the collection is a visual journal entry, allowing the viewer to peer into moments from my past. As I set off to capture the aesthetics and charged emotions from these memories, I unexpectedly began releasing some of the weight they had on me. By letting go of my own judgment and fear of what people will think when they see the work, I immersed myself in the creative process for this exhibition, and found courage to confront the challenges I faced during my childhood. Niña is a cathartic journey of acceptance, as I allow myself the space and time to process aspects of my life that have long been overlooked.” – Sofia Enriquez, 2023.