Raven Sanchez: Así Sea / So Be It

Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, East 7th Street 1717, 90021, Los Angeles

4. April 2026 – 23. August 2026

Los Angeles artist Raven Sanchez presents her first institutional exhibition at ICA LA's Project Room, exploring the relationship between place, memory, and community through multidisciplinary work grounded in her family history. The installation Así Sea / So Be It centers on over 200 wax rubbings Sanchez created of her grandparents' home in East Los Angeles. The house's exterior was hand-stuccoed in 1974 by her grandfather, who immigrated from Tijuana, Baja California, where he learned his craft. After more than 50 years of residence, the family sold the home following her grandparents' deaths and amid neighborhood gentrification. Produced in multigenerational collaboration with her mother and aunts, the rubbings document the home's plaster exterior with ornamental wrought iron details, interior elements, and plant matter from the garden. While the work reflects a human impulse to preserve, Sanchez's approach acknowledges the impossibility of preservation, making visible the realities of loss while honoring the intangible feelings, experiences, and encounters that animate a house.