Trina Michelle Robinson's 'Open Your Eyes to Water' Spans Two San Francisco Sites

The exhibition 'Open Your Eyes to Water' by Trina Michelle Robinson was showcased at both 500 Capp Street and Root Division in San Francisco, concluding on 16 May 2026. This dual-site show delves into themes of migration, material memory, and collective authorship through various mediums including film, printmaking, installation, and alchemical techniques. At 500 Capp Street, a Victorian residence from 1886 that once belonged to conceptual artist David Ireland, Robinson's work 'Liberation Through Redaction' was featured in the Parlour Room, showcasing a redacted will on a rammed earth pedestal along with foraged grasses symbolizing westward migration. Her personal archive, containing documents from 1835, was exhibited in the Paule Anglim Archive Room alongside Ireland's soil collections. At Root Division, established in 2002, she unveiled 'Elegy for Nancy,' an altar enriched by contributions from five Black women artists: Lynse Cooper, Chloe King, Nicki Shockz, Ashley Spencer, and Jasmine Wiley. Robinson employs intaglio printmaking and analogue film to evoke memories, with water serving as a unifying element across migrations from Senegal to Kentucky, Chicago, and California. The exhibition was curated by PJ Gubatina Policarpio, while Lian Ladia oversaw the curation at 500 Capp Street.