Mercedes Dorame—Deliquescence: Sites of Transformation

Sun., March 22, 2026–Wed., March 31, 2027
THIS LAND IS...
Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art
“Deliquescence: Sites of Transformation” is a commissioned installation linking photography, painting, sculpture, ceramics, and a soundscape of Tongva poetry. Freshwater springs, like those found throughout Southern California, are sites of deep history, where Indigenous peoples gathered and cultures flourished. For Dorame, the spring is a site of encounter like The Huntington, a place where histories are surfaced through the historical archive, where memory is preserved and culture shared. When histories come to the surface, as when water courses from the earth, this encounter raises questions about what is preserved and how it is cared for.
Based in Los Angeles, Dorame is known for installations and photographs that invite viewers to consider the past, present, and future of Tongva presence on the land. Many of the sites she selects for her photographs have profound cultural and family connections. Her work reimagines Los Angeles through the history and culture of Indigenous peoples.
“Deliquescence” marks Dorame’s return to The Huntington, where she served as the 2023–24 artist-in-residence.
About the Artist

Mercedes Dorame
Mercedes Dorame (b. 1980) is a Los Angeles–based multidisciplinary artist. She calls upon her Tongva ancestry to engage with ideas of cultural construction and ancestral connections to land and sky. By photographing and presenting places that hold mythical and cultural importance, she forges a dialogue with her Tongva ancestors and asserts the continuous presence of First Peoples and their stewardship of land and water. Born in Los Angeles, California, she received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and a bachelor’s degree from UCLA.
She is currently a member of the regular faculty in the Photo Media Program at CalArts and is part of the inaugural cohort of Unseen California. She was commissioned by the Getty for the sculptural installation Woosha’aaxre Yaangaro, presented as the inaugural Rotunda Commission. Her work was also on view in six PST ART exhibitions across Los Angeles. Her practice was recently featured in the Los Angeles Times article “How artist Mercedes Dorame shares pieces of her Tongva heritage across L.A.’s public landscapes,” and UCLA honored her through its centennial initiative “UCLA: Our Stories Our Impact” as an outstanding alumna advancing equal justice over the past 100 years.
Dorame’s work is held in the permanent collections of The Huntington, the Getty, the Hammer Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Triton Museum of Art, among others. She is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including the Creative Capital Award, the California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists, the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, and the Wanlass Artist in Residence Fellowship. She has exhibited internationally.
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This project was supported in part by a grant from the Creative Capital Foundation.