THE PRESENCE OF ANCESTORS: Sonya Clark, Angela Ellsworth and Ato Ribeiro

Exhibition Dates: October 25 – December 27, 2025

Opening Reception
Saturday, October 25, 2025
1:00 – 3:00pm

The body's gestures of communication, taking form as practices of gathering and making, are passed on through generations and migrations. The presence of these ancestral voices in our contemporary existence is explored in Lisa Sette Gallery's season-opening show, which features the works of Sonya Clark, Angela Ellsworth, and Ato Ribeiro. Eminent presences on the gallery's roster, each artist has earned a reputation for their ability to transmute the spiritual and creative practices of their heritage into incisive and thoughtful contemporary works. The artists of The Presence of Ancestors examine and commemorate the survival of essential creative expressions that exist outside of the control of oppressive regimes, across vast global migrations, and throughout the arc of time. A selection of works by Clark, Ellsworth, and Ribeiro will be exhibited at Lisa Sette Gallery from October to 25 to December 27, 2025, with an opening reception with artists on Saturday, October 25, 2025 from 1:00 - 3:00pm.

Clark, Ellsworth, and Ribeiro call on processes and materials to articulate the presence of ancestors, communicating the strength of stories and identities over time and across continents, and reaching poignantly into our contemporary circumstances' uncertainty and transformation. Their work presents in contemporary form the works of an ancient human culture that has eluded the shackles of repressive political movements and the wealth-centered value systems, instead carrying forward the knowledge of ancestors to meet us at this present moment.