From the gallery: For her exhibition Graft at ICA San Diego, artist Edra Soto (b.1971, Puerto Rico; lives and works in Chicago, IL) continues to create the site-specific installations that have defined this project since 2012. Using a range of materials from aluminum and PVC, to concrete and wood, Soto generates a sculptural language to express her experience navigating the Puerto Rican diaspora. For more than a decade, she has transposed two common and beloved elements of Puerto Rican residential architecture into foreign environments: the geometrically-patterned rejas (wrought-iron gates) and quiebrasoles (decorative concrete breeze blocks) that surround many of the island’s homes. This reconstruction of such distinctly Puerto Rican structures in faraway places offers a poetic meditation on national identity, displacement, and belonging. Read more here. Opening reception: Saturday, March 4 5:30-8:30 p.m. During Art Night Encinitas. Free, but RSVP is required. Register here. MEET THE ARTIST In residence March 4 – 19 and April 29 – May 21. During Meet the Artist hours, the public is invited to speak with Edra Soto and contribute to an upcoming project. While in residence at the ICA San Diego, Soto will be crafting a fabric and metal flag out of four-pointed aluminum stars. This project, an expanded version of Soto’s 2021 work, Tropicalamerica 21, takinges inspiration from the all-black Puerto Rican flag, which has become a symbol of Puerto Rican independence, resistance to colonialism, and civil disobedience since 2016. Soto invites the community to join her in the construction of this flag, and will teach visitors how to make the four-pointed aluminum stars. MEET THE ARTIST HOURS Saturday and Sunday 3:00 p.m. -5:00 p.m. March 4, 5, 11, 12, Sunday 19. April 29, 30. May 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 and 21. Related links: ICA San Diego on Instagram ICA San Diego on Facebook ICA San Diego on TikTok
