Artist Statement
My work often looks at how we speak publicly about our private experiences. Whether that be through how we present ourselves, or how we see ourselves represented by or excluded from the mainstream. I use culturally and historically significant materials including hair, jewelry, found footage, and text to do so. Woven into my work are my interests in adornment, stereotypes, and personal/public narratives.
Sam Fresquez responds to issues of vulnerability and resilience through the lens of gender, examining the rigid and hyper-masculine culture surrounding NASCAR through performance and sculptural installation such as intricately beaded racing flags and fire suits. These fire suits—sturdy, thick, and rigid—are employed by drivers for protection. The racing suits are displayed hung on the wall “until the next race”, and are scaled to fit the artist yet represent the fictional “first Latina NASCAR driver.” The colored glass beads have been methodically placed to create familiar patterns such as flames or surprising slogans like “YASCAR”—drawn from a corporate branding campaign by NASCAR to celebrate Pride Month. The beaded artworks are at once strong and fragile, functional and decorative. Fresquez’s works challenge the rigidity of such binaries and asks the viewer to imagine new societal arrangements that might structure our lives.
(Excerpt from CALA Alliance Press Release, 2022, Alana Hernandez)
Frésquez graduated in 2019 from Arizona State University with a bachelors of fine arts in interdisciplinary art; and graduated from Yale University in 2025 with an MFA in sculpture. Most recently, she was included in Get in The Game: Sports, Art, and Culture at SFMoMA, which will soon travel to the Perez Art Museum in Miami and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. She has also exhibited work at institutions including the Phoenix Art Museum, the Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and has been the recipient of artist residencies at Xico Galeria, the Haystack Mountain School, New York Arts Practicum, MASS MoCA, and CALA Alliance.