A Peek into the Artist’s Mind…

Curatorial Rationale

Through this body of work, I aim to explore the theme of nostalgia, capturing the essence of my own childhood memories while also touching base on the complex transition into adulthood. To make peace with the challenges of entering a new stage of life, I hope this exhibition will act as a personal timecapsule, depicting mementos and tokens that encapsulate the essence of my own childhood to remember it by. Moreover, I aspire to create a tender atmosphere for audiences who view my work. I hope the stories told through my art reminds individuals of their own nostalgic experiences, allowing them to connect with their younger selves and provoking the same sense of imagination and wonder that I felt as a child. 

The concepts portrayed throughout this body of work range from collages depicting nostalgic memorabilia to more serious concepts such as disparities in opportunity for youth. Overall, my vision for this exhibition was to express these topics through the lens of a child, hence why I chose to use a range of bright colors through many of my works. For example in Fountain of Unspoken Hopes, I illustrate two different circumstances, a mother enjoying vacation with her daughter and two young girls selling goods to support themselves, overall emphasizing how economic circumstances greatly impact the childhood we get to experience. Rather than using a dull color palette to align with the serious theme being portrayed, I chose to continue with bright colors, mimicking how a young child viewing this scene would most likely not notice the struggles hidden in the background and view the world through an optimistic perspective. 

Contrastingly, in Leapfrog, I chose to cover a positive aspect of nostalgia, creating a mixed media collage that depicts a portrait of myself as a child. My own personal experiences greatly influenced this piece, seeing that I included real aspects of my childhood, like old homework assignments and notes, in the collage. Moreover, I illustrated a video game console I grew up playing, a Leapfrog, capturing a personally significant aspect of my childhood. A distinctive technique I included in this artwork was the use of scribble art. I chose to include this feature in the background to mimic the art of a young child. Not only does applying these techniques strengthen my theme of nostalgia, it inspires the audience to view the artwork through a child’s lens and provides me with an outlet to relive my childhood memories by expressing them through art. 

I arranged my works to be in a chronological arrangement, visually telling the narrative of my childhood from beginning to end. The arrangement is introduced with Leapfrog, a self portrait introducing my younger self to the audience. It then moves on to pieces like Ceilings and Water’s Edge which depict sentiments of the awkward stage in between childhood and teenhood. Lastly it ends with Then and Now, a self portrait of my younger and current self wearing a graduation cap. I purposefully wanted the exhibition to end with this piece because it acts like a resolution to a story. This body of work dives into different anecdotes and moments from my childhood. Now that I am entering adulthood after graduation, my childhood is practically over, I intend for Now and Then to act as an ending to the story, with both portraits smiling signifying that they are at peace with the endless possibilities of the future.


Gallery - Nostalgia

  • Cecilia Delgado

    Then and Now

    Colored Pencils on Drawing Paper Pasted on Watercolor on Watercolor Paper

    30.5 cm x 22.9 cm

    This piece uses colored pencils to illustrate the visual of a graduating high school senior gazing at her younger self. The piece portrays two self portraits and connects to the theme of nostalgia, as the two figures side by side visually represent the acceptance of change and the passage of time. 

  • Cecilia Delgado

    Leapfrog

    Colored Pencil, Oil Pastel, Watercolor on Watercolor Paper

    21.3 x 30.5 cm

    Childhood memories linger through objects we leave behind. Through a self portrait and a Leapfrog game, moments of imagination and nostalgia are revisited. My younger self sits surrounded by scribbles and real school assignments from my childhood. Together, these elements create a collage of fading memories, fragments of who I once was and how I still carry her with me.

  • Cecilia Delgado

    Ceilings

    Alcohol Markers, Colored Pencil, Gel Pen, Fabric on Drawing Paper

    18 x 30 cm

    February 2025

    This piece depicts my childhood bedroom from an aerial perspective, emphasizing how it has played a role as a safe space filled with memorabilia collected from different eras of my life. Though it may be messy, every object holds sentimental value, reflecting the beauty in ordinary life. Inspired by Nimah Gobir’s painting, Chico State, I hope to highlight how simple spaces can tell intricate stories and inspire viewers to appreciate the unnoticed details that make ordinary days meaningful.

  • Cecilia Delgado

    American Dream

    Alcohol Markers & Colored Pencil on Cardstock Paper

    20.3 x 22.9 cm 2025

    Two different childhoods from two different parts of the world are contrasted in this scene. A mother and her daughter freely enjoy their ice cream, while two young girls resting by a fountain watch; one holding a basket of goods she must sell in order to support her family. This work highlights how economic circumstances greatly impact the childhood we get to experience. Solely due to fate, some are able to enjoy their vacation from school while others only dream of a vacation from work.

  • Cecilia Delgado

    Hold, Please

    Alcohol Markers, Colored Pencil, Gel Pen on Drawing Paper

    24.13 cm x 30.48 cm

    2025

    This illustration, made with alcohol markers, colored pencil, and gel pen, depicts a woman at work clinging on to her childhood. Instead of a real phone, she uses a toy rotary phone, symbolizing how she is holding on to her innocence in an attempt to ignore her adult responsibilities. The contrast between the woman’s adulthood and the playfulness of the phone highlights the strain between growing up and clinging on to nostalgic memories.

  • Cecilia Delgado

    Water’s Edge

    Watercolor & Paint Pen on Watercolor paper

    47.5 cm x 29.5 cm

    Childhood memories linger through objects we leave behind. Through a self portrait and a Leapfrog game, moments of imagination and nostalgia are revisited. My younger self sits surrounded by scribbles and real school assignments from my childhood. Together, these elements create a collage of fading memories, fragments of who I once was and how I still carry her with me.

  • Cecilia Delgado

    Drift‍ ‍

    Paper Mache, Acrylic Paint, Iridescent Paint, Jewelry Cord, Pearls, Sea Beads

    43.2 x 35.6 x 3.6 cm

    Beautiful moments between sea creatures often go unseen under the ocean waters. I wanted to capture the graceful and ballet-like movements of the Manta Ray, bringing their essence to the surface through this sculpture. The iridescent highlights present on the Manta Ray mimic beams of sunlight in the sea. The flowing strings of sea beads mimic the colors of oceanic waters, taking inspiration from Tim Fitzharris’ photography, “Manta Ray Ballet, Penida Island, Indonesia”.

  • Cecilia Delgado

    Wrinkles of Gold

    Paper Mache, Acrylic Paint, Paint Pen

    22.9 x 22.9 x 4.5 cm

    This sculpture depicts an elderly woman crowned with flowers and whimsical floral markings. Inspired by Kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold, the woman’s wrinkles are adorned with traces of gold to emphasize the beauty within aging and imperfections. This piece turns the idea of aging, something typically seen as “broken”, into something graceful and beautiful. Rather than longing for nostalgia, this piece appreciates the passage of time and the wisdom passed along with it.