Curated by Dolores Carrillo García
Echoes of Our Light: Celebrating International Women’s Day is an exhibition that honors the creativity, resilience, and vision of women artists. It creates a welcoming artistic space where diverse voices come together through works that illuminate personal stories, cultural connections, and shared inspiration.
For more than 50 years, La Peña Gallery has marked International Women’s Day through exhibitions that highlight women’s artistic contributions. Since 1975, when the first World Conference on Women was held in Mexico City, this tradition has continued to grow, celebrating the richness and diversity of women’s creative expression. The theme of this exhibition is open, inviting a wide range of perspectives and artistic approaches.
For more than 50 years, La Peña Gallery has marked International Women’s Day through exhibitions that highlight women’s artistic contributions. Since 1975, when the first World Conference on Women was held in Mexico City, this tradition has continued to grow, celebrating the richness and diversity of women’s creative expression. The theme of this exhibition is open, inviting a wide range of perspectives and artistic approaches.
Participating artists include Alondra Acosta, Kassandra Aguero, Alejandra Almuelle, Ashley Alvarado, Arely Arevalos, Connie Arismendi (Serie Project), Kimberly Berriochoa, Kimberly Bishop, Ana Borne, Anna Daisy Campos, Cecilia Colomé, Courtney Enriquez, Sandra C. Fernandez, Rebel Fitz, Ilza J. Garcia, Mary Jane Garza, Naxieli Gomez, Maribel Hambric, Lisa Justine Hernandez, Kathi Herrin, Esmeralda C. Lopez, Yleana Martinez, Paloma Mayorga, Delilah Montoya (Serie Project), Debra Roberts (Serie Project), Cecilia Sanchez Duarte, Emily Socolov, and Liliana Wilson.
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Alondra Acosta
New Sky 2023 Acrylic on canvas 24” x 36” My work explores space and perspective as a metaphors for transition and possibility. In New Sky, architectural forms frame an opening towards the horizon, suggesting a moment when familiar boundaries give way to new directions. |
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Kassandra Aguero
Community Craft 2024 Photographic Print 11x14 Volunteers at the Sacred Springs Powwow shared their time and knowledge with visitors of all ages. |
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Alejandra Almuelle
Aqui 2025 16” x 9” x 6” Ceramic Based in Austin, Alejandra Almuelle has established and maintained her studio practice for over 30 years. She has been dedicated to explore both, the sculptural and the functional aspects of ceramics. To see more of her work go to www.alejandraalmuelle.com |
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Ashley Alvarado
Dream Walker 2026 Oil on Canvas I paint in bold colors because they reflect how I experience the world: intense, layered, and emotional. My work moves between observation and introspection, exploring the spaces where identity, belonging, and self understanding take shape. I am inspired by the diversity of human experience and the ways people create meaning within their cultures and communities. Although I admire artists such as Matisse, Klimt, Dalí, Bacon, and Botero, my greatest influence was my late uncle, José Francisco Treviño, who taught me that art begins with curiosity and careful observation of people, stories, and culture. For many years I kept my paintings private while life led me toward anthropology and archaeology. Returning to painting now feels like rediscovering something deeply familiar. Dream Walker (2026) reflects the space between exhaustion and persistence, capturing the quiet struggle of searching for identity and direction while continuing to move forward. |
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Arely Arevalos
La Florista 2025 Pencil In the picture you can see an old woman holding flowers, for me it represents the beautiful women that are resilient and work hard, and are always looking for a way to keep going and to be successful in life. I am a self-taught artist, I always love doing art, and there is nothing else that gives me the peace and calm I get when I paint. |
Connie Arismendi
La Vida 1995 Screen print, SERIE II/2 19.5” x 15.75” edition of 48 In La Vida, a screenprint created through Sam Coronado’s Serie Project at Coronado Studios in Austin, verdant tendrils grow up alongside a human figure in profile that contains a burning flae. Similar to working with translucent material, like sheer fabric or candle wax, Arismendi is able to create an atmospheric effect by splattering green and red inks on the paper’s surface. The resulting stippled forms are hazy and indistinct, so much so that the various shapes shift alternately back and forth into focus between human body and handled vessel. - The Fort Wayne Museum of Art. |
Kimberly Berriochoa
Perception 2026 Gouache and pastel 20” x 26” x 1.5” I’m a multicultural artist working with gouache, watercolor, and acrylics to create surreal scenes that spark curiosity and wonder. My pieces often blend everyday objects with unexpected characters, like tiny climbers scaling a buffalo’s neck or a peaceful village resting on a crocodile’s back. It’s not about escaping reality but expanding it, inviting viewers to see beyond the obvious and imagine a universe layered with meaning, connection, and possibility. Art became essential to me during a time of personal challenge. It helped me heal and reconnect with a deeper sense of self. That experience continues to shape my conviction that art has the power to transform not just emotions, but also perceptions. I aim to help people rediscover their sense of awe and see that there’s always more to this world than meets the eye. With over 20 years of experience in corporate communications, storytelling comes naturally. Every piece I make has a narrative running through it, a moment suspended, an invitation to explore. I’ve exhibited in galleries throughout Austin and participated in art fairs across Texas. I also host artistic retreats where creativity, inspiration, and community come together. |
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Kim Bishop
Please Hold 2022 Graphite on paper Please Hold translates a private childhood refuge into a universal image. I use intimate scenes from my past to excavate moments of fear, longing, and resilience—images that often unlock a shared memory in viewers. In Please Hold, I recreate the small bathroom door knob of our West 30th Street home in Austin: the only room with a lock, where a frightened girl would crouch between the toilet and tub, listening to that knob rattle, praying that the lock would hold while aching to be held. Rendered in graphite, this work is both a literal account and a visual prayer—quiet, urgent, and insistently human. |
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Ana Borne
Together to the sunset 2026 Assemblage This piece celebrates enduring relationships. To express oneself through art is extremel gratifying. It brings me joy and for this I’m very grateful. Thank you for your support through the years! |
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Ana Deisy Campos
Mango as Sacred Heart Graphite on paper This piece explores the intersection of the Sacred Heart and the mango as symbols of maternity and enduring love. Through this imagery, I reflect on identity, family, and cultural memory. My work often moves between California, Texas, and El Salvador, drawing from my experience growing up Salvadoran American in the United States. I am interested in how media representation, absence, and generalization shape Latino identity, and I seek to retell stories that reconnect the heart, power, and spiritual ties within family and community. Working primarily in painting, I combine family photographs, gathered images, and cultural symbols to build layered narratives. Through color, contrast, and overlapping imagery, I explore memory, belonging, and everyday life. Ana Deisy Campos is a Salvadoran American artist born in California and raised in Dallas, Texas. She earned a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin (2025) and has exhibited in Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas. |
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Cecilia Colomé
Playing With Air 2023 Watercolor on paper 13” x 13” I am a painter and printmaker whose work is guided by curiosity and exploration. About six years ago, I began working with watercolor, embracing its fluidity and unpredictability as a way to expand my practice. Learning a new medium invites experimentation and play, an essential part of the creative process. Play returns us to the spirit of childhood, when our first encounters with the world were filled with wonder and discovery. In my work, I seek to recover that sense of seeing things anew. Through painting, printmaking, and watercolor, I explore observation, intuition, and the possibilities that emerge through experimentation. |
Courtney Enriquez
Dama Chingona 2026 Mix media Dama Chingona, presents a bold, stylized portrait of a confident woman, walking w/ poise against a vibrant, patterned backdrop. She carries strength, and cultural identity. The rich colors and folk-art-inspired patterns evoke Mexican visual traditions, blending modern fashion with symbolic natural motif. |
Sandra C. Fernandez
Luisa Lithography and stitching 11” x 15” Sandra C. Fernandez explores migration as an emotional and transformative experience. She constructs collaged dress-forms from fragmented portraits of Latina women who have migrated to Austin, interwoven with handwritten fragments that evoke experience. Using lithography, monotype, and stitching, these elements are printed, reprinted, layered, and sewn back together as unique impressions. Through acts of assembly and mending, the dresses hold memory, labor, and presence—not to restore what once was, but to acknowledge what has been lived and allow continuation. They reflect a state of becoming, shaped by possibility, dignity, and hope. “Luisa” is a vignette of the larger dress series. |
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Rebel Fitz
Partnership Oil on canvas in frame This painting is meant to depict the strength and softness in both men and women. Together, they work as a team, providing comfort and a safe space for one another. Rebel is an all-around creative based in Austin, Texas. Through her paintings, she expresses her inner world - thoughts, feelings, emotions. Often finding meaning in her work long after it’s been completed. |
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Ilza J. Garcia
Soy el universo Colored pencil, pen Soy el universo explores the process of reclaiming the self through art. A woman creator dips her paintbrush into an eye shaped galaxy at the center of her chest, suggesting that creativity and the universe live within her. Behind her, houseplants reclaim the space as the walls of her home dissolve into a wider cosmos. A vintage Lupita doll represents women of the past whose roles were often limited to caretaker, object, or possession. From her place on the shelf, the doll witnesses and becomes part of a new future. Ilza García is a Chicana mother, writer, and artist from Austin. Her work explores strength, identity, language, and intergenerational healing. She holds an MFA in creative writing and a master’s degree in education. |
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Mary Jane Garza
Ojo de Diosa for Oshun Mixed media. 15” x 15” Oshun, the revered Yoruba deity of fresh water, love, beauty and wealth originated in Nigeria. This powerful goddess of life and protector of humanity has often been maligned and persecuted for being part of folk religionand worshipin Africa, practices that are often misunderstood by the general population of most countries. For this reason this Ojo de Diosa that I have made is dedicated to Oshun. |
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Naxieli Gomez
The steps I follow Oil on panel. 9” x 12” “The Steps I Follow” These are my grandmother’s steps, the greatest example of resilience, strength, intelligence, courage, and love I have ever known. She is a Zapotec woman from the Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. She grew up in a poor farming family, working alongside her father in the fields since she was young. She married and raised four children. When my grandfather abandoned them, she faced the world alone. Unable to read or write, she opened the first convenience store in her small town. She was a visionary who ran that store until she was 92 years old. Today, at 97, she moves slowly around her house, nearly blind. But every step she takes carries a lifetime of courage, and those are the steps I want to follow. |
Maribel Hambric
Las Flores de Frida, 2026
Acrylic on canvas. 10” x 8”
Like Frida Kahlo, “I paint flowers so they will not die”. In this painting, there are six roses in different colors representing the positive aspects of Frida’s life. Red is for her passion and romance with Diego. Orange is for her enthusiasm and energy shown in her paintings. Lavender is for enchantment and adoration of her Mexican culture. White is for purity and a new beginning as an artist after her tragic accident. Pink is for her graceful soul and her gratitude for life itself. Yellow is for her close friendships and the joy she continues to give to many.
Las Flores de Frida, 2026
Acrylic on canvas. 10” x 8”
Like Frida Kahlo, “I paint flowers so they will not die”. In this painting, there are six roses in different colors representing the positive aspects of Frida’s life. Red is for her passion and romance with Diego. Orange is for her enthusiasm and energy shown in her paintings. Lavender is for enchantment and adoration of her Mexican culture. White is for purity and a new beginning as an artist after her tragic accident. Pink is for her graceful soul and her gratitude for life itself. Yellow is for her close friendships and the joy she continues to give to many.
Lisa Justine Hernandez
1539: The Only Child of Xochimatzin Moctezuma
Intaglio etching and aquatint, 2026
This intaglio print portrays my 12th great-grandmother Leonor de Valderrama y Moctezuma witnessing a pivotal collision of worlds when she was a young girl. In her uncle’s study, the 1539 Mass of St Gregory featherwork hangs. Outside the Sunstone is being buried. This is part of a series on Moctezuma’s daughters and granddaughters.
My work is an act of ancestral reclamation, centering on my 13th great--grandmother Mariana Leonor Moctezuma Acatlan Xochimatzin. Through the slow intaglio etching and aquatint processes, I juxtapose visible colonial narratives with secrets buried in the earth. I approach the violent Spanish conquest to honor the quiet, enduring resistance of my own bloodline, where the sacred was hidden to ensure its survival in my blood memory.
1539: The Only Child of Xochimatzin Moctezuma
Intaglio etching and aquatint, 2026
This intaglio print portrays my 12th great-grandmother Leonor de Valderrama y Moctezuma witnessing a pivotal collision of worlds when she was a young girl. In her uncle’s study, the 1539 Mass of St Gregory featherwork hangs. Outside the Sunstone is being buried. This is part of a series on Moctezuma’s daughters and granddaughters.
My work is an act of ancestral reclamation, centering on my 13th great--grandmother Mariana Leonor Moctezuma Acatlan Xochimatzin. Through the slow intaglio etching and aquatint processes, I juxtapose visible colonial narratives with secrets buried in the earth. I approach the violent Spanish conquest to honor the quiet, enduring resistance of my own bloodline, where the sacred was hidden to ensure its survival in my blood memory.
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Kathi Herrin
Join us at the table! 2013 Photography print (2026) I am a multi-media artist who works primarily in photography, ceramics, and painting. For this exhibition, “Echoes of our Light”, I chose one of my absolute favorite photographs to commemorate International Women’s Day. This image positively exemplifies women at work in the international scene. This is the first-ever print of this photograph for the exhibit. I was in Florence, Italy, with my professor and class on a study abroad program. Art History Italy, offered by Austin Community College, during the summer of 2013. I took this photo at the Ganzo School Restaurant operated by students and faculty of the Apicius International School of Culinary Arts. The chefs created an exquisite meal for our class and came out to greet us after dinner. Delightful! “Art makes my world go round!” |
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Esmeralda C. Lopez
Detrás De Mí (Behind Me), 2026 Mixed Medium 20” x 16” x 0.5” This work depicts María Lorena Ramírez, a Rarámuri ultramarathon runner who became internationally recognized after winning a 50-kilometer race in 2017 while wearing handmade huaraches and traditional clothing, outperforming hundreds of competitors using modern athletic gear. She later declined Nike’s offer of running shoes, stating that the people who use them “are always behind me.” Her story reflects endurance grounded in cultural identity and a daily life shaped by long distances traveled in the mountains of Chihuahua. Esmeralda C. Lopez-Renta, a self-taught mixed media artist from Fort Worth, Texas, has been creating art for over two decades. Her diverse body of work includes mixed media paintings, paper crafts, and fabric art. She draws inspiration from her travels and profound emotional experiences. Esmeralda’s creations have been featured at La Pena Gallery in Austin, TX, and Galleria de la Rosa in Fort Worth, TX. |
Yleana Martinez
Nevertheless, She Persists (2026)
Found wood, antique Bolivian miniature mask, moss.
“Nevertheless, she persisted” is a feminist rallying cry stemming from a February 2017 debate during which US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) silenced Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) as she read a letter written by Coretta Scott King. The 1986 letter was addressed to President Reagan, objecting to his nomination of then US Attorney Jeff Sessions to a federal district court seat. In the letter, King accused Sessions of using his power “to chill the free exercise of the vote by Black citizens” in Alabama. McConnell invoked Senate rules to stop Warren, stating, “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
I found this piece of driftwood around the time of these hearings. In it I saw a female figure racing forward, outrunning all forms of oppression that threaten her freedom. I choose to interpret this discovery as a reminder from the universe that women are the progenitors of life on Mother Earth, the foundation of our existence. I have long wanted to portray this idea visually.
Nevertheless, She Persists (2026)
Found wood, antique Bolivian miniature mask, moss.
“Nevertheless, she persisted” is a feminist rallying cry stemming from a February 2017 debate during which US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) silenced Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) as she read a letter written by Coretta Scott King. The 1986 letter was addressed to President Reagan, objecting to his nomination of then US Attorney Jeff Sessions to a federal district court seat. In the letter, King accused Sessions of using his power “to chill the free exercise of the vote by Black citizens” in Alabama. McConnell invoked Senate rules to stop Warren, stating, “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
I found this piece of driftwood around the time of these hearings. In it I saw a female figure racing forward, outrunning all forms of oppression that threaten her freedom. I choose to interpret this discovery as a reminder from the universe that women are the progenitors of life on Mother Earth, the foundation of our existence. I have long wanted to portray this idea visually.
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Paloma Mayorga
Mi cuerpo sigue siendo un campo de batalla (2022) Screenprint. Printed by Coronado printstudio, Austin, Texas. Mi cuerpo sigue siendo un campo de batalla (My body is still a battleground) was first imagined in April 2022, when the United States Supreme Court announced that it was in the process of overturning Roe v. Wade, again. Referencing Barbara Kruger’s iconic 1989, Untitled (Your body is a battleground, the same fight against antiabortion laws and women’s rights continues three decades later. |
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Delilah Montoya
Los Dos Corazones (2007) SERIE IV/14 with dedication to Sam Coronado’s studio In this print, the artist pays homage to her friend Luis Jiménez, who passed away in 2006. Jiménez appears in a photograph inside the locket, taken by Montoya the previous year while they were hiking near his ranch in New Mexico. Surrounding the image are rose petals from Montoya’s garden they once enjoyed together, along with small tokens and charms he had given her. “Luis was a very warm, caring individual,” Montoya writes, “and I hope people can sense this when looking at the print.” Montoya’s work draws from the cultures of the Southwest, blending traditions from Aztec Mexico, Spain, and cross border vernacular practices while exploring spiritual ritual, cultural memory, and identity. |
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Debra Roberts
False Impressions (2006) Screenprint SERIE XIII/13; 14.5” x 21” Deborah Roberts is an American contemporary artist. Roberts is a mixed media collage artist whose figurative works depict the complexity of Black subjecthood and explores themes of race, identity, and gender politics taking on the subject of otherness as understood against the backdrop of existing societal norms of race and beauty. Roberts was named 2023 Texas Medal of Arts Award Honoree for the Visual Arts. |
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Cecilia Sanchez Duarte
ACHÉ 2/15 Limited Edition 2026 Linocut 5.906“ x 4.921“ (15cm x 12.5cm) Aché, in Yoruba, is the divinity that flows through all beings. The fundamental force of all universal energy. As in all cultures, women still weave survival storytelling for the next generations. Women are fundamental to oral cultural traditions. Particularly, my image projects tradition through rituals, music, movement, and straight sensuality as they are dancing and playing with their nature within. The snake is not sinister but a symbol of respect, wisdom, and divinity. Powerful, talented, and beautiful women as an energy radiating center. |
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Emily Socolov
Illuminated Portrait / Retrato iluminado Mixed media / medios mixtos 24” x 19” x 10” Swept into a pile, these scrambled fragments are detached from function and imbued with random associations. They become an offering to an unknown young woman whose (negative) image I have known for years. She is bound to my memory too. Barridos en un montón, estos fragmentos revueltos se desvinculan de su función y están imbuidos de recuerdos aleatorios. Se convierten en una ofrenda para una joven desconocida cuya imagen (negativa) conozco desde hace años. Ella también ha sido arrastrada a mi memoria. Emily Socolov is an artist, folklorist, writer, and activist who makes assemblages. At this political moment, the urge to rearrange reality and draw connections through materials has never been stronger. Emily Socolov es una artista, folclorista, escritora y activista que crea ensamblajes. En este momento político, el impulso de reorganizar la realidad y establecer conexiones a través de objetos nunca ha sido más urgente. |
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Liliana Wilson
Sueños de niño migrante 2026 Color pencil and acrylic on paper 30” x 30” The drawing depicts a boy dreaming of escaping his immigrant reality in a fantasy carrousel horse. Liliana Wilson is a visual artist best known for her intricate drawings with surrealistic renderings. Liliana Wilson was born in Chile. A book on her work called “Ofrenda “ was published by Texas A & M Press in 2015, edited by Dr Norma E Cantu, and it is a collection of writings on Liliana’s work by Gloria E Anzaldua and others. |
Photos from Opening Night
Saturday, March 14, 2026
Artist Interviews
