Christina Fernandez

Manuela S-T-I-T-C-H-E-D presents the facades of nondescript garment factories in the industrial zones of Los Angeles that the artist would find through Help Wanted listings in the local newspapers. The inconspicuous buildings conceal whatever labor is happening within, but there are clues provided by small handmade signs that say “TT&T Fashions” or “Napa Apparel.” Fernandez combines the text of these photographs with a textual piece of her own making that describes a fictitious but plausible scenario by which la migra (immigration officers) find a fleeing undocumented worker by the thread caught on her heel. The first photograph in the series reflects the corner that Manuela runs around and then each subsequent work is a progression down the street as she tries to escape. The story was harrowing in 1996 and is tragically even more timely now as la migra has become even more militarized and hostile.

The other work on view is Cesar I, II, III, a triptych that shows a view from the office window of labor organizer Cesar Chavez at the site of his historical home and office that are a part of the state park system. Located in the Central Valley outside Bakersfield in Keene, CA, the site is heavily layered with a personal history and legacy. On the one hand, he and the United Farm Workers made great strides in improving the working conditions of migrant farmworkers. But on the other, a heavy-handed approach to enforcement recently resulted in a spectacle of raids in another growing area nearby. His efforts might be seen as unfinished in that regard. Still, the series excels in providing a contemplative view from the perspective of someone who once lived and allows us to embody all the complexities that they and we all share.

Long sold out, this print is the most iconic of Fernandez’s Lavanderias and is a rare opportunity to acquire a larger size of the print that is only now possible with drum scanning technology of her original negatives. A stunning iteration of the work.

Step into the luminous half-light of Lavanderia, a thoughtfully composed photographic series that transforms everyday labor into poetry. Fernandez captures laundromats along East Los Angeles at night, using large format view cameras and long exposures to render both clarity and blur. The glass façades become membranes—through layers of graffiti, frames of windows, and the ghostly silhouettes of patrons—she weaves tension between what is visible and what is obscured.

These images do more than depict cleansing of laundry; they clean away anonymity. They shift the frame to those often overlooked: the migrant worker, the domestic laborer, the everyday rhythms we rarely pause to see. It is labor made visible, dignity rendered in light.

 Lavanderia is essential for any collection attuned to urban life, Chicana/o identity, and the intersection of beauty and social justice. It’s a series that holds both formal elegance and narrative urgency—where light, shadow, presence, and absence form a potent testament to resilience.