“When I speak of the erotic, then, speak of it as an assertion of the life force of women; of that creative energy empowered, the knowledge and use of which we are now reclaiming in our language, our history, our dancing, our loving, our work, our lives.”
— Sister Outsider: Essays & Speeches
Audre Lorde
Grounded in the feminist wisdom of Audre Lorde and unbound by any single medium, Élan Cadiz: Healing the Erotic is a meditation on intimacy, vulnerability, and empowerment as pathways to personal and collective healing. Through portraiture, painting, and assemblage, Cadiz untethers the erotic from its narrow associations, and reclaims it as a life force of creativity, resilience, and self-determination.
This exhibition features works from her ongoing series, including Limits the Sky, a surreal reinterpretation of Cadiz’s familial memories, and Seven Stages of Spiritual Alchemy, a visual journey characterizing each step towards personal liberation.
At its center is America, a powerful portrait embodying Cadiz’s exploration of history, belonging, and complacency. America captures the interplay between personal history and collective struggle, introducing audiences to the layered themes of the exhibition. Every intricate detail of America is intentional. “I figured if I create a dense, intricate pattern of imagery that people have to get close to, then they’ll spend more time with it,” states Cadiz. “Hopefully, they see something that pushes them to look further.”
