Online: September 12 to October 21, 2025
Opening Reception: September 5 • 7 – 9 pm • more info

Paintings and installation in the Mezzanine

As an artist, I divide my time between Vancouver and Cozumel, a beach town in Mexico. After spending three months in Cozumel last year, I became fascinated by the fruit stand. I wondered if tourists were attracted to these fruit stands because they embody a romantic idea of Mexico – an escapism from the realities of daily life in Mexico and an idea of “paradise” that is commonly associated with the third world. While these stands might be colourful and folkloric, they also serve as evidence of the financial instability in which so many Mexicans live. The journal El Economista notes that 55% of the occupied population of Mexico is part of an informal economy.

Taking inspiration from installations by Sol Calero and Gabriel Orozco, I have replicated a fruit stand in the exhibition space. Agua pasa por mi casa exposes the precariousness of informal commerce in Mexico and explores alternative forms of value. My work also questions the exoticizing gaze, which is informed by how we look to the past and envision places we haven’t visited.

Website: moralesalejandra.com
Instagram: @festivefig