While some activists advance their ideals using words, the female and non-binary artists in Speak to Me Softly utilize their crafts to address complicated subjects. Using soft materials and methods such as fabric, yarn, and embroidery, the artists spark conversations about queerness, liberation, public health, childhood trauma and other issues we face in our world. Each of these artworks weaves together threads of complicated, often charged, subject matters and calls attention to important, relatable topics that affect us all.

Multi-media artist Marco Albarrán’s focus on pre-Conquest indigenous deities and motifs unites his diverse artistic output, which ranges from prints to large sculptures. Deities of the South examines the roles of ancient sacred deities in a modern world and encourages viewers to consider indigenous perspectives, modular spirituality, and sacred environments.