MEZTLI PROJECTS
Meztli Projects supports the creative development of Native and Indigenous artists.
We were founded with the intent to address the severe lack of artistic opportunities for Native and Indigenous Artists as-well-as systems-impacted youth living and creating in Los Angeles County (Tovaangar). This work takes shape in several forms such as for-hire opportunities, advocating for truly equitable resources such as but not limited to funding and culturally authentic (not just relevant) programming, and training future and emerging cultural workers.
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INDEX ARTISTS EXHIBITIONS
Adrienne Kinsella
What Is To Give Light Must Endure Burning, 2026
Oil on canvas
40 x 40 inches
My work centers upon an ongoing search for healing...mending the broken things between one another, and reconnecting with the natural world. As a descendant of the Tongva of Los Angeles, issues of access and belonging, or lack thereof, are a theme that spans my work. I am thinking about habitats, how we inhabit a space, and our impacts upon the land and each other. The subject of fire is poignant and close for me. My grandparents lost their home in a fire, a devastating event that brought endings yet new beginnings. In these works, I am specifically addressing fire as healer, as catalyst of new life. Many of our native plants must experience fire in order to germinate, such as the Matilija poppy. I am also pondering metaphorical burns where impacts lead to new growth; beauty emerging out of ash. I think of our native flora and fauna as healers as well as representations of our people. Like time travelers, they span into both past and present, existing beyond ourselves. I am inspired by the promise embodied in a tiny seed, where a seemingly dead object holds the potential to become a living entity and restorative agent of beauty and enduring presence - sometimes only growing after fire.
Adrienne Kinsella
Endure, 2026
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 inches
Fire as metaphor…fire as harbinger of change…the sun (taamet) temporarily obscured yet still present, a death of sorts and rebirth into change. I am thinking about fire as a symbol of suffering, a shared experience of what many endure in losing home. Home may be defined by place, found in a person or people, felt within an edifice or region yet often proves ephemeral and fragile. Shifts and outside forces may leave us feeling helpless, homeless… but akin to the temporality of an eclipse, seasons also shift and home is found in new ways. I am thinking of the erasure the Tongva have experienced. I am thinking of our songs, forbidden to be sung, dances not allowed to be danced, and the ache of wondering and not receiving answers. Perhaps fire can illuminate a path forward.
Adrienne Kinsella
Takaape' (Blue), 2026
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 inches
Blue…a layered word, full of depth and belonging, both settling and melancholy. The Tongva word for blue, takaape’ also describes green. For this work, rather than using our word for pure blue, tokuupar, which also describes the sky, I wanted to name the presence of green. Though we don’t visually see this second iteration of meaning in the piece, it is implied. Many native California plants germinate through smoke and fire. Others produce what is known as crown growth to recuperate and regenerate after a burn. New growth appears from what seems a fully charred and lifeless plant. As roots endure heat beneath the surface, they send up new shoots once the threat has subsided. I am considering both meanings of takaape’ expressed in the blue silence and stillness of ash and the promise of green. The waning crescent moon can symbolize surrender - a release and quiet before a new chapter unfolds. In the pause, in seasons of ashy resting and waiting, new possibilities may await just beneath the surface.
Kenneth Lopez
New Beginnings, 2026
43 1/8 x 75 1/4 inches
Woven Photograph:
Metallic Glossy Paper, Archival Paper
As a visual artist and cultural worker, my woven art pieces are meant to give you a glimpse into how I view the interconnected relationships we have with our natural relatives, whether through the photographs I take or the mixed-media woven pieces I create. As well as to challenge viewers to reconsider their relationship with all living beings, animals, plants, and land. Each one is meant to honor not only the memory of those who have given me the space to grow as an artist but also the lessons they’ve taught me. New Beginnings is a piece that is meant to remind folks that it's not just “water is life”; every living being is life. Without our first ancestors' and elders' teachings, we wouldn’t be where we are today. The piece itself is part of what my community uses for ceremony/medicine, and fire plays a key role in all of it, whether for cooking, smudging, or healing.
Kimberly Robertson
We Carry Our Fires with Us, 2026
Beaded Tapestry: plastic beads, thread, copper rod, sinew
18 x 23 inches
A beaded tapestry that reads "we carry our fires with us" and has a fire design. The piece reflects on the sacred role fire plays in Mvskoke communities. It speaks to the migration of Creek Indians (both voluntary and involuntary) and the belief that Mvskoke identity, culture, and belief systems are carried within each Mvskoke person. Regardless of your physical location, we carry the Mvskoke fire (the essence of our culture) with us.
Kimberly Robertson
Grandma Obera, 2026
Sculpture and Beadwork: Ceramic ashtray, glass beads, wire, cigarette pouch, pack of cigarettes, lighter
12 x 12 inches
This piece is a tribute to my grandma. I can remember sitting at her feet every afternoon as a child, watching her “soaps” while the heavy cloud of smoke from her cigarettes settled around me. For some of the people in my family, the smell of my grandma’s living room was offensive. The nicotine stains that adorned the walls like fine art and the stiff carpet that harbored decades of tar particles signaled a poverty, a desperation, a contempt for their disapproval that suffocated them. For me though, the smell of her living room, and of her, was intoxicating. It smelt like the taste of sourgrass I ate from her front yard. It smelt like the sound of the swamp color that drowned out the TV unless it was turned up to the highest volume. It smelt like home. It smelt like safety.
After I completed the beadwork for this piece, I asked my youngest daughter to “smoke” the beaded cigarette butts to replicate the dark pink lipstick stains that covered my grandma’s cigarette butts. That lipstick imprint is my favorite part of this piece. My grandma passed away in her early sixties, before my daughters were born, and my youngest daughter’s interaction with the beaded cigarettes felt like a moment of intergenerational joy. A visual representation of the love, resilience, and ferocity my grandma poured into me, flowing through to my girls.
Isaac Ybarra
E'yoo Kiiy (Our Home), 2026
Miniature Sculpture: SeaGrass, Floss, Tape, Sinew, Rattan Reed, Wood
4 x 4 x 5 inches
A Kiiy is a traditional Tongva dwelling that is shaped to resemble a dome in different sizes for different needs. Its design naturally withstands earthquakes and pests. It was built with plants found in abundance near waterways, with openings to ventilate for fires held in the center of the building. Fires that were utilized for cooking, healing, and communication.
Rihanna Barrera
El Castillo, 2024
Installation, mixed media on compressed plywood
16W x 48H x 24D inches
El Castillo is an homage to my upbringing in South Los Angeles, my family, and the childhood inspirations that influence the artist I am today. This building represents the pink apartment complex where I grew up with one of my grandmothers and reflects much of my community. From graffiti to street murals, I have learned to appreciate this expressive art form, which is evident in my work style. This building was a doorway to the realities of the world, but also a refuge from it.
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Joel Garcia
menily’s muse, 2024
Painting on watercolor paper, acorn & oak gall dye, iron, oil stick, ink
Oak frame stained with acorn & oak gall dye.
36 x 48
inches
Menily’s muse was created using an acorn and oak gall dye process that centers on the land and its gifts, highlights cultural practices that have existed for hundreds of years, and employs regenerative methods for creating art. Dyes from oak trees are found in basket weaving, regalia-making, and other important tribal art forms. The depiction of a yucca moth is part of a series on endangered pollinators in Southern California and serves as a study of water, dyes, gravity, and alchemy, utilizing ironized water to produce a spectrum of colors ranging from rich golden browns to dark purples.
Yucca (chiy'a*) Moths (kwa'i*) are spring and nighttime pollinators, and they are the only creatures that pollinate yucca flowers. The majestic relationship between the moon (ménil/menill/menilly/man-el) yucca, yucca moths, and First Peoples has long informed lifeways and stewardship practices.
This painting and series emerged while sitting in awe of the bats and moths taking flight during warm spring sunsets in East Los Angeles.
*Cahuilla language. There is no direct translation for yucca moth.
Moon translates to Mwar in the Tongva language.
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Kenneth Lopez
06.06.24.7.02.54, 2024
Woven Paper and Photograph
27.375 x 25.875 inches
06.06.24.7.02.54 is a homage not only to our natural relatives but also to all the native basket weavers I’ve encountered since starting my journey as a photographer. Although this particular weave isn't one I've personally seen as a native basket pattern, I wanted to highlight one of the primary areas where some of the materials for weaving specific baskets are sourced. In this case, it's the Chinui Paxaayt, also known as the San Gabriel River, while simultaneously showcasing the beauty of our natural relatives and those lands despite human interference.
Mexico is imagined through the story of a golden eagle perched on a cactus wrestling with a rattlesnake; this mighty egret perches itself not on a cactus but a Target shopping cart and possibly wrestling with trash… is this what America imagines itself to be?
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Kimberly Robertson
Deer Woman, 2024
Deer Woman (pink), Deer Woman (blue), Deer Woman (purple), Deer Woman (peach), 2024
Metal hangers, plastic and wooden beads, lipstick knives
60 x 36 inches
As a Mvskoke woman and a survivor of gender-based violence, I created Deer Woman - a collection of four beaded tapestries - to address the issue of violence against Native femmes. I used pony beads and the peyote stitch technique to construct each tapestry. They hang from golden clothes hangers and are finished with strands of fringe that end in knives disguised as lipsticks. Through the tapestries, I aim to explore the tension between the beauty and the danger that comes with embracing Native femme identities under settler colonialism and cisheteropatriarchy.
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Emilia Cruz
Cuervito Offerings, 2025
Ceramic sculpture
8 x 9 inches
After visiting my abuelito's cantera sculptures in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, my biggest learning lesson was how beautifully his pieces intertwined with the elements outside. I created my piece to honor this observation and to leave food offerings for my crow friends who often visit our house.
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Kimberly Robertson
Haunting, 2024
Metal hanger, copper wire, glass and plastic beads
12 x 27 inches
The relentless and intentional criminalization, incarceration, and murder of journalists has been a key strategy of the Israeli genocide of Palestinian peoples. According to The Committee to Protect Journalists, as of November 12, 2024, 137 journalists have been confirmed killed, 47 injured, 2 missing, and 71 arrested by the Israeli state, making this the deadliest period for journalists since CJP began gathering data in 1192. CJP is investigating an additional 130 cases of potential killings, arrests, and injuries, but many are difficult to document amid the conditions of genocide.
Nevertheless, courageous and selfless journalists continue to put their lives on the line for justice and liberation. Haunting aims to honor the martyrs whose lives were stolen from them and to call attention to both the atrocities of genocide and the inextinguishable spirit of Palestinian resistance.
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Kenneth Lopez
Moč (Color), 2025
Woven Photograph
60 x 24.125 inches
Moč (color; probably from mon “to paint” + -š “passive”) is meant to give a glimpse into the space known as Wištoyo. Through Wištoyo I got to experience the impact of seeing a community truly come together ( “uš’išmoč” in Šmuwič); this left a strong impression on me. The blue sky woven into ocean-like waves represents the beauty in connections I made that day, while the unwoven strands serve as a representation of the hopes and dreams of the people that stand united within the Wištoyo community.
Wištoyo is the Šmuwič word for rainbow; the word also represents a “bridge” that links Chumash culture, wisdom, and values to the present day. Specifically surrounding the protection of cultural and natural resources.
Translations by “Integrated Dictionary of Schmuwich- Barbareño Chumash” Richard Applegate, Ph.D.
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River T. Garza
Tovaangar Placa, 2025
Steel, aluminum, Plinth: Italian Marble
16 x 11 inches
Tovaangar is a Tongva place name for the world (the Los Angeles basin). This plaque is designed to convey a sense of place and temporality to the viewer. The plaque is presented on top of an Italian marble plinth. The choice of Italian Marble is a direct reference to sculptural works from the Renaissance; artists like Michelangelo used white Italian marble to carve masterpieces like David and the Pieta. The canon of art history has positioned Indigenous artists outside of the art historical narrative; important works by Indigenous artists have only been framed in the past tense. Thus, the use of Italian marble is not only an allusion to the materials used by the “masters” but also calls into question the positionality of Indigenous art/artists within the narrative of art history.
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