Sarasota Art Museum Explores Identity, Culture and Companionship through Maria A. Guzmán Capron’s Vibrant Textiles
‘Penumbra’ features Capron’s large-scale figurative works that highlight the value of connection
Sarasota, Fla — Step into a world of exuberant color and intricate storytelling with “Maria A. Guzmán Capron: Penumbra,” on view April 19-Sept. 27 at Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design. In this solo exhibition, the California-based artist explores the nuances of identity through ten vibrant figurative textiles. Capron was born in Milan, Italy to Peruvian and Colombian parents and immigrated to Texas as a teenager. Her work is deeply informed by her personal experience navigating different cultures, languages and geographies.
“‘Penumbra’ invites viewers to engage with art that reflects the beautiful, ever-evolving collage of human experience. Through her layered portraits, Maria A. Guzmán Capron creates multi-faceted characters that challenge traditional social hierarchies and expand compassion and care,” said Lacie Barbour, the associate curator of exhibitions at Sarasota Art Museum.
Capron’s plush figurative portraits, constructed from hand-dyed and screen-printed fabrics, serve as a visual metaphor for the multi-faceted nature of identity. By exaggerating hands and other anatomical features, she emphasizes the power of touch, explores the value of family and friendship and challenges traditions that present art as distant and inaccessible. Her work also elevates the potential of nonverbal communication. While several characters exchange glances with one another, Capron often designates one character to engage the viewers, inviting them into the group. “Déjame Llevarte” (2025), translated to “Let me take you,” depicts the power of companionship and trust with two characters walking hand in hand composed of vibrant painted and printed fabrics. The figures, though clearly individuals, mirror each other and begin to blend with one another as they embark on a journey together, creating a dense, tactile sense of interconnectedness and community.
Capron’s artistic practice began with drawing, a method she used to quickly communicate her thoughts. She later experimented with fabrics after canvasing thrift stores and becoming fascinated by the enormous variety that came from people of all ages and backgrounds. She started modifying the mass-produced materials she found to convey the immigrant experience of adapting what is available to draw connections to one’s culture. She often pairs ordinary materials such as cotton with luxurious fabrics like silk to address power dynamics and social hierarchies within society today.
“I used to simply create from material that was available, but I now feel the power to envision my work from the start by creating my own fabrics. Dyeing and screen-printing have introduced a new intensity of color and a slower, more intentional pace to my practice that I hope resonates with viewers,” said Capron.
All of the works presented, including a handful of new works created specifically for this exhibition, feature Capron’s original textile designs. In “Brisa Corriendo” (2024), she compiles vivid blues, soft lilacs and golden yellows to create fragmented bodies and multiplied limbs that represent the various identities one can carry. “Espejo” also features Capron’s handmade fabrics and uses layered figures to explore the complexity of the human psyche that evolves with various cultural and geographical experiences. In addition to the textile wall hangings, a suspended fifteen foot soft-sculpture slinks through the center of the gallery on all fours.
Capron’s curvy characters playfully conjure mythological creatures, fantastical beings and what she calls “hot aliens,” a term that references the use of the word “alien” on the green card she carried upon relocating to the United States. These figures often merge and embrace, dissolving physical boundaries to represent a collage of ancestry and culture. The surreal figures are also intentionally muscular and flirtatious, serving as a celebratory space where the artist can exist without limits. For this exhibition, Capron turns her focus on the shadow, a figurative form that represents the duality that we all carry. “Penumbra,” meaning almost- or half-shadow, references the gray area of a shadow that is not fully obscured, where there is still partial light. Moving away from the negative connotation of shadows representing a dark side, Capron sees them as extensions of ourselves and our companions that exist in this transitional realm of possibility and ambiguity, always on the verge of becoming something else.
“Sarasota Art Museum is committed to advancing the work of rising artists,” shared Virginia Shearer, Sarasota Art Museum’s executive director. “Maria A. Guzmán Capron: Penumbra is one more example of how SAM is supporting the important work and careers of artists today. Capron’s newest exhibition is a strong example of art that reflects on what it means to be human in today’s complex and beautiful world.”
“Maria A. Guzmán Capron: Penumbra” is organized by Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design and curated by Lacie Barbour, associate curator of exhibitions at Sarasota Art Museum.
About Sarasota Art Museum
Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design (SAM) is the city’s only Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Founded in 2019, SAM features an ever-rotating lineup of world-class exhibitions, dynamic programs, and enriching educational offerings, and serves as a creative gathering place for curious minds from across the Gulf Coast, Southeast United States, and beyond. Housed in the historic former Sarasota High School, the Museum has revitalized and reimagined the towering landmark and architectural treasure, connecting Sarasota’s past with its present. Today, SAM is home to 15,000 square feet of gallery exhibition space, where nationally touring shows, as well as curated and commissioned exhibits by both renowned and emerging artists, deepen visitors’ appreciation for 20th and 21st century art. More at SarasotaArtMuseum.org.