Olivia Lopez: Reins of Memory
Olivia's work is rooted in her relationship with Charrería—a tradition woven into her family’s history, though one she has only witnessed from the margins. Years ago, Olivia photographed Las Escaramuzas at a Charriada in the highlands of Jalisco, drawn to their movement's strength and elegance and the tension between choreography and control. She was once a dancer, too, but never entered that world. Instead, she observed. She archived.
This exhibition bridges past and present, legacy and longing. Her return to older images, recontextualizing them alongside new portraits of Tenorio—a queer man from the same region, now living in Los Angeles, who dances and connects deeply with horses. His presence—fluid, proud, and powerful—becomes a mirror and a counterpoint: the masculine and the feminine, the remembered and the reimagined.
Olivia hoped to include family members who work at the Santa Anita stables, but their absence—whether temporary or permanent—became part of the story. Absence, too, is a form of presence. In its place, she turns to fragments: family photos, memories, personal reflections. Through these images, she searches not just for what is passed down, but for what might be reclaimed.
This work is an offering. A gesture toward belonging. A dance between tradition and transformation.