'Sylvia Fernández: Habitando, I Don’t Belong Here, We Belong Everywhere'
Tuesday: 11 AM - 4 PM
Wednesday: 11 AM - 4 PM
Thursday: 11 AM - 4 PM
Friday: 11 AM - 4 PM
Saturday: 11 AM - 4 PM
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The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library presents "Habitando, I Don’t Belong Here, We Belong Everywhere," an exhibition of new work by artist Sylvia Fernández, on view October 17, 2026, through January 9, 2027.
An artist talk with Fernández will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, October 16, followed by an opening reception from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
In "Habitando, I Don’t Belong Here, We Belong Everywhere," Fernández navigates the complexity of finding home everywhere and nowhere at once. Using Spanglish as a structural tool and the flowing nature of water and air as frameworks for thinking about transformation, migration, and belonging, Fernández materializes the experience of moving between places as a journey toward the self, where memory and feeling continually shape a place to belong.
For this exhibition, Fernández expands beyond personal experience into collective awareness through two archives she has created: Archivo de Sentires (Archive of Feelings) and Archivo de Sombras (Archive of Shadows). The Archivo de Sentires draws on responses to seven questions posed to women of different ages living around the globe. These responses have been translated into paintings, with a palette drawn from every color named in the archive. The Archivo de Sombras comprises photographs of each woman’s sun-cast shadow, which act as source materials for the paintings. In the resulting works, the shadows appear as silhouettes, at times merging with Fernández’s own body to mark presence and absence.
Fernández’s adopted home of San Diego is linked by the Pacific Ocean to Lima, where she was born. San Diego’s dry terrain, waterways, shifting light, and native flora and fauna enter the paintings as fragments reimagined into new landscapes. Birds following the Pacific Flyway, from Alaska to Patagonia, appear as symbols of movement and the possibility of belonging everywhere.
The exhibition design further reflects Fernández’s interest in the fluidity of place and identity. Double-sided paintings hover and swirl throughout the gallery, inviting viewers to navigate the works from multiple perspectives. The paintings become portals for transformation and expansion, extending the exhibition’s exploration of how identity and belonging shift through movement, memory, and experience.
Through these interconnected works, "Habitando, I Don’t Belong Here, We Belong Everywhere" considers belonging as an evolving experience shaped by personal histories, collective feelings, and the places we carry with us.
Event Details
On view: October 17, 2026–January 9, 2027
Artist Talk and Opening Reception: Friday, October 16, 2026
Artist Talk: 5:30 p.m.
Opening Reception: 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Location: Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall Street, La Jolla, CA 92037
Tickets: Admission to the exhibition and opening reception is free. RSVP required for Artist Talk.
Gallery hours:
Tuesday–Saturday: 11 AM–4 PM
Every second Saturday during the Barrio Art Crawl: 5–8 PM
Sunday, Monday & holidays: closed
Event Supported By
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, located in the heart of La Jolla, Calif., in San Diego County, is one of only 16 nonprofit membership libraries in the United States. This rare cultural institution, an important one to the greater San Diego area, offers a depth and accessibility of resources and programs found nowhere else in the region. The library, devoted exclusively to music and art, has an outstanding and ever-expanding collection of books, periodicals, reference material, compact discs, videocassettes, DVDs, sheet music and librettos, as well as one of the most significant collections of artists' books in Southern California. The library is open to the public five days a week and members can check out materials for a modest annual fee. The Athenaeum also presents an eclectic, year-round schedule of art exhibitions, concerts (classical, jazz and new music), lectures, studio art classes through its School of the Arts, tours and special events. To quote the San Diego Union-Tribune, "There are few libraries in America as unusual as the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library." Admission: Admission to the library is free. Gallery exhibits are free and open to the general public. Materials may be used in the library or checked out by members. Borrowing privileges are limited to members only. Books may be checked out for four weeks and all CDs, videos and DVDs for two weeks. Materials may be reserved in advance. Guided Tours: Free guided tours take place the third Saturday of every month at 11 a.m.
