About

ROXANA CASILLAS

BIO

Roxana Casillas was born in Mexico City in 1964 and began studying wood carving at the age of fifteen. She moved to San Diego, California in 1981 and received her degree in Art from San Diego State University in 1989. In 1993, she relocated to Pietrasanta, Italy—an international center for sculpture—where she lived and worked for fifteen years. Immersed in marble studios and bronze foundries, she apprenticed with master artisans and refined her technical practice. During this period she received major commissions, including a 10-foot marble sculpture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, The Stations of the Cross (a series of fifteen marble sculptures comprising 210 figures), and a bronze portrait of musician Woody Herman commissioned by PBS. Casillas has participated in exhibitions and residencies throughout Europe and the United States, including representing the U.S. in the Project Giotto residency during the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa, Italy. She returned to the United States after fifteen years abroad and continues to develop a studio practice that bridges classical technique with contemporary conceptual inquiry. Recent awards include the 2022 California Relief Fund Grant, the L-Fund Debra I. Moore Grant, and the 2024 California Arts Council Artists Disruptors Fellowship.

Trained in classical carving and marble traditions, I now work through fragmentation and reconstruction to examine how identity is constructed and regulated. Moving between sacred forms and contemporary concerns, my sculptures investigate the structures that shape authority and power.

Roxana Casillas-Curriculum Vitae

International exhibitions and residencies in Italy, France, Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United States.

Born 1964, Mexico City, Mexico
Lives and works in Palm Springs, California

Education

Modern and Contemporary Art and Design Specialization, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), 2025
B.A., Art, San Diego State University, 1989
A.A., Photography, Southwestern College, 1986
Sculpture Studies, Instituto de Artes Plásticas Independencia IMSS, San Jerónimo, Mexico City, 1982

Apprenticeships

Bottega Versiliese Marble Sculpture Studio, Pietrasanta, Italy, 1996–2001
Fratelli Cacciatori Marble Sculpture Studio, Pietrasanta, Italy, 1995–1996
Palla Scultore Marble Sculpture Studio, Pietrasanta, Italy, 1993–1995

Grants & Residencies

2024 – California Arts Council Award x Artist Disruptors Fellowship, The Center for Cultural Power
2023 – Debra I. Moore Grant for the Arts, L-Fund
2022 – California Relief Fund Grant for Artists and Arts Practitioners, California Arts Council
2023 – The Annenberg Foundation at Sunnylands, Rancho Mirage, CA (Residency Celebrating the Estate’s Sculpture Collection)
2010 – Scultura in Abetone, Abetone, Italy (Residency)
2008 – Simposio di Scultura, Pontedera, Italy. (Residency)
2006 – Il Tempo nella Memoria, Campomaggiore Vecchio, Potenza, Italy. (Residency)
2004 – Concours de Sculptures sur Bois, Saint Michel de Maurienne, France. (Residency)
2001 – Laboratorio di Scultura di Front, Turin, Italy. (Residency)
2001 – Simposio di Scultura Figurativa su Marmo, Turin, Italy. (Residency)
2001 – Project Giotto (U.S. representative), G8 Cultural Program, Genoa, Italy. (Residency)

Solo Exhibitions

2025 – Goddess, Loop Contemporary Artspace, Cathedral City, CA
2008 – Between Two Worlds, City of Palm Desert Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2005 – Cubed, Torre Upezzinghi, Pontedera, Italy
2003 – Separation, O’Bernier Gallery, La Jolla, CA
1991 – Emerging Vision, Melrose Village Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

Selected International Exhibitions

2022 – Cubes, Galerie Lorien, Copenhagen, Denmark
2017 – Separation, Galerie Lorien, Copenhagen, Denmark
2006 – Home, Chiostro di Sant’Agostino, Pietrasanta, Italy
2005 – Fabianoarte, Pubblica Assistenza di Fabiano, Fabiano, Italy
2005 – Vico Vitri Art, Proposte Latine, Azzano, Italy
2005 – Migrazioni, Atrio del Palazzo Comunale di Savona, Savona, Italy
2005 – Migrazioni, Chiostro Francescano di Mellea, Farigliano, Turin, Italy
2004 – Migrazioni, Palazzo Mediceo, Seravezza, Italy
2002 – 100 Artisti in Cantina, Arkad Foundation, Seravezza, Italy
2001 – Gallery Belle Arte, Château St. Gerlach, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2001 – Project Giotto, G8 Cultural Program, Palazzo della Provincia, Genoa, Italy
2001 – Arte Giovane, Monteggiori, Italy
2001 – Arte per una Nuova Biblioteca, Scuola Michele Rossi, Lido di Camaiore, Italy
2000 – ASART 2001, Spazio Raffo Marmi, Pietrasanta, Italy
2000 – Omaggio dell’Arte alla Vergine Maria, Convento S. Francesco, Pietrasanta, Italy
1999 – Anime Apuane, Ex Banca d’Italia, Carrara, Italy
1999 – Anime Apuane, Italsky Kutumi Institut, Prague, Czech Republic
1998 – Anime Apuane, Palais des Congrès, Grasse, France
1998 – Anime Apuane, Schloss Schönbrunn Österreich, Vienna, Austria
1998 – Giovane Scultura senza Frontiere, Comune di Volterra, Italy
1997 – Logge del Palazzo Pretorio, Volterra, Italy
1997 – Grafica, Materia, Colore, Chiesa di S. Paolo all’Orto, Pisa, Italy

Selected U.S. Exhibitions

2024 – Where Art Lives, City Hall, Cathedral City, CA
2023 – Celebrating the Estate’s Sculpture Collection, The Annenberg Foundation at Sunnylands, Rancho Mirage, CA
2015 – Cubes, Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2015 – Collective, Vickers Galleries, Aspen, Vail & Beaver Creek, CO
2014 – Vickers Galleries, Sedona, AZ
2011 – Heart Month, American Heart Association, Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
1992 – Salem Witches Tercentenary Anniversary, Essex Museum, Salem, MA
1990 – Apocrypha, Wilton Project Theater, Hollywood, CA
1987 – San Diego Art, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA

Selected Commissions & Collections

2023 – Salt Mine Wall, Trigg Dealey Enterprises, Rancho Mirage, CA
2021 – Meditating Frog Fountain, Olive Tucson Apartment Complex, Tucson, AZ
2018 – Seashell Collection, Kindred Black
2016 – Portrait Bust, George Washington Carver Foundation
2013 – Altarpiece, St. Anne Church, San Diego, CA
2006 – Public Sculpture, Città di Campomaggiore, Basilicata, Italy
2005 – Private Chapel Installation, Reiss Project, La Jolla, CA
2002 – El Niño de Santa Maria de Atocha, Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, Orange, CA
2002 – A Tribute to Woody Herman, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA
1999 – The Garden of the Resurrection, El Camino Memorial Park, San Diego, CA
1996 – Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza, El Camino Memorial Park, San Diego, CA