The mixed-media work of artist, psychologist, curator, and professor Amalia Mesa-Bains has been informed by a lifetime dedicated to research and creative arts. Through an exploration of ancient and contemporary histories, Mesa-Bains traces how the past informs the present. Inspired by extensive study of the mythical Mictlan to the visual legacy of Nigeria, the artist has produced a series of rarely seen prints, which layer the visual narratives of people and places as well as cultures and histories.

While Amalia Mesa-Bains works in a variety of mediums, she is perhaps best-known for her intricate and large-scale contemporary installations and interpretations of the traditional sacred forms of altar, ofrenda, descanso and capilla. For this exhibition, Mesa-Bains has recreated the installation, Borders: Emblems of the Decade from the historic New York Decade show of 1990, done in collaboration with scholar Victor Zamudio Taylor. Borders as ofrenda is dedicated to the life and death of Mexican curator, Victor Zamudio-Taylor. Drawing parallels between historical and contemporary issues in art and culture formed the foundation of Zamudio-Taylor’s life’s work, and in this exhibition, we find the same dedication reflected in the art of Amalia’s Mesa-Bains