Sandi daRoza

daRoza’s solo exhibition will take place 2024 November 1 - December 22
Reception for the artist Sunday, November 3, from 1-4
Artist talk: Friday, December 6 at 5 P.M. (Half Moon Bay First Friday Art Walk 4-6)

Sandi daRoza captures the joys of everyday life in her art, immortalizing the special and daily moments. Every work is an expression of gratitude. Her vibrant and sophisticated color palette is inspired by her parents’ homeland. She is known for her portraits of Frida Kahlo, the Virgen de Guadalupe, and the women in her family including herself, surrounded by symbols of agriculture and abundance.

daRoza is a first generation Mexican American whose parents and older siblings were farm laborers in California tomato fields. She is deeply inspired by the courage of her parents who left their extended families to make a better life for their own children by emigrating to the United States. She learned to sew from her mother, who made the family’s clothes and utilitarian items like aprons and blankets from scraps and mismatched thread from the markdown bin at Ben Franklin Crafts.

In 2015 daRoza was introduced to raw edge applique through a workshop with renowned quilter and textile artist Freddy Moran, who saw great potential in her work and encouraged her to pursue her interest in textile art. In 2018 after entering remission from breast cancer, daRoza focused completely on her art practice, and in her words, began to “paint with fabric,” and more deeply exploring her Mexican culture.

daRoza grew up in Northern California; she lives and works in Hillsborough, CA. This is her first exhibition in a contemporary art gallery.