fabric with shapes sewn on that look like trees and the silhouettes of children standing side by side.

Read the salt 16 publication here.

Arleene Correa Valencia is an emerging contemporary artist interested in migration, family, and the visibility/invisibility of undocumented people in the United States. Born in Michoacán, Mexico, Correa Valencia fled with her family to the United States at age three and grew up in Napa Valley. The prolonged experience of separation when her father left to find work made a profound impact on Correa Valencia’s childhood and outlook. Her artistic practice continues to explore the grief, anxieties, and fears of repeated separation alongside the joys of reunited life together. 

salt 16: Arleene Correa Valencia features a new series of portraits that capture the complex experience of migration across the Mexico-United States border. The figures are embroidered and painted on handmade Amate, a traditional paper made with tree bark by expert artists and collaborators in Mexico. Each portrait includes reflective fabrics and discarded clothing that closely mimic original family photographs, stitching together the story of Correa Valencia’s family over the past three generations. 

This exhibition is accompanied by a publication with a featured essay by Dr. María del Mar González-González, Assistant Professor of Art History at Weber State University. 

Please join us for a public opening reception for salt 16: Arleene Correa Valencia on Friday, November 15, 2024, from 6-9 pm.


salt 16 is funded in part by Stephanie and Tim Harpst and The Joseph and Evelyn Rosenblatt Enrichment Fund.


Arleene Correa Valencia, Mexican American, born 1993, El Arbol / The Tree, 2024, Textiles, acrylic, and thread on Amate paper made by, Jose Daniel Santos de la Puerta, Courtesy of the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, Photograph by Adrian Osnaya