Exhibition on view: January 28-February 5, 2027

Gallery hours: Mon-Friday, 9am – 5pm, noon – 5pm

Roski Graduate Gallery (Los Angeles Arts District) 1262 Palmetto St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Haunted by a longing for home, APARICIONES marks the artist’s seminal exploration of red brick as a medium for reconnection. After nearly 30 years of separation from his native land, family, and the spirit of his brick-mason forefathers, the artist forms a vital new relationship with the material. The works in this exhibition are contemplations of what it means to practice care and mutuality, while envisioning a regenerative future for the ladrilleros (brick masons) who sustain this centuries-old craft. This work stands as an offering of gratitude to the hands that built our modern cities brick by brick—molding solid earth, water, fire, wood, and labor.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ernesto Rocha (b. 1987) is an interdisciplinary artist and altarista based in Los Angeles. He deconstructs the materiality of altars to reconnect directly with organic materials as conduits of ancestral knowledge and lost histories. His practice fuses the aesthetic value of traditional altars, the deconstruction of industrial or building elements, and ritual performance to beckon what refuses to be buried. Currently, he is working with the materiality of red clay bricks as a way to resurface the history of oppressive labor exploitation that has haunted that industry for centuries. In doing so, he traces his own history and that of his ancestors who worked the land and practiced brick masonry.  By treating materials as portals, he performs with them as embodied beings—a type of spiritual relationship that provides space for dreaming up new realities.

Ernesto graduated from UCLA with a BA in Political Science and Chicana/o Studies and is the recipient of the Culture Bearers Power Building Award for his practice in altar making. He received a City of Los Angeles Award and Recognition for his creative leadership and community cultural organizing in South Los Angeles, and is the recipient of the 2026 Individual Artist Fellowship for Los Angeles County funded by the California Arts Council.