About

ROXANA CASILLAS

Roxana Casillas is a sculptor born in Mexico City in 1964. Her love for wood carving and sculpture began at the age of 15 when she attended art school. In 1981 she moved to San Diego, California. In 1989, she graduated in Art from SDSU and relocated to Los Angeles, where she taught painting and photography. In 1993, Roxana moved to Pietrasanta, Italy, a town famous for sculpture, known as “Little Athens”. There, she lived and worked for 15 years, learning from experienced artisans who became her mentors. Roxana honed her sculpture skills in marble studios and bronze foundries and apprenticed for noted sculptors. In 1995 she received her first major commission for a 10-foot-tall marble sculpture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in California. This success led to more commissions, including The Stations of the Cross, a collection of fifteen marble sculptures with 210 figures, and a bronze portrait of musician Woody Herman commissioned by PBS. During her time in Italy, Roxana participated in many exhibitions, and art residencies throughout Europe. In 2001, she was chosen to represent the U.S. in Project Giotto residency during the G8 international summit meeting in Genoa, Italy. After years in Italy, Roxana returned to live in the U.S. Awards include the 2022 California Relief Fund Grant, the L-Fund Debra I Moore Grant, and the 2024 California Arts Council Award x Artists Disruptors Fellowship.

"My aim is to invite audiences into a profound exploration of self, inspiring them to redefine their identities and embrace transformative change."

Roxana Casillas-Curriculum Vitae

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

Education

B.A. in Art, San Diego State University, 1989
A.A. in Photography, Southwestern College, 1986

Apprenticeships

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

Selected Exhibitions

2025
Goddess (Solo), Loop Contemporary Artspace, Cathedral City, CA

2024
Where Art Lives, City Hall, Cathedral City, CA

2023
Celebrating the Estate’s Sculpture Collection, The Annenberg Foundation at Sunnylands, Rancho Mirage, CA

2022
Cubes, Galerie Lorien, Copenhagen, Denmark

2017
Separation, Galerie Lorien, Copenhagen, Denmark

2015
Cubes, Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
Collective, Vickers Galleries, Aspen, Vail & Beaver Creek, CO

2014
Vickers Galleries, Sedona, AZ

2011
Heart Month, American Heart Association, Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA

2008
Between Two Worlds (Solo), City of Palm Desert Gallery, Palm Desert, CA

2006
Home, Chiostro di Sant’Agostino, Pietrasanta, Italy

2005
Fabianoarte, Pubblica Assistenza di Fabiano, Fabiano, Italy
Vico Vitri Art, Proposte Latine, Azzano, Italy
Cubed (Solo), Torre Upezzinghi, Pontedera, Italy
Migrazioni, Atrio del Palazzo Comunale di Savona, Savona, Italy
Migrazioni, Chiostro Francescano di Mellea, Farigliano, Turin, Italy

2004
Migrazioni, Palazzo Mediceo, Seravezza, Italy

2003
Separation (Solo), O’Bernier Gallery, La Jolla, CA

2002
100 Artisti in Cantina, Arkad Foundation, Seravezza, Italy

2001
Gallery Belle Arte, Château St. Gerlach, Maastricht, Holland
Project Giotto, G8, Palazzo della Provincia, Genoa, Italy
Arte Giovane, Monteggiori, Italy
Arte per una Nuova Biblioteca, Scuola Michele Rossi, Lido di Camaiore, Italy

2000
ASART 2001, Spazio Raffo Marmi, Pietrasanta, Italy
Gallery Belle Arte, Château St. Gerlach, Maastricht, Holland
Omaggio dell’Arte alla Vergine Maria, Convento S. Francesco, Pietrasanta, Italy

1999
Anime Apuane, Ex Banca d’Italia, Carrara, Italy
Anime Apuane, Italsky Kutumi Institut, Prague, Czech Republic

1998
Anime Apuane, Palais des Congrès, Grasse, France
Anime Apuane, Schloss Schönbrunn Österreich, Vienna, Austria
Giovane Scultura senza Frontiere, Comune di Volterra, Italy

1997
Logge del Palazzo Pretorio, Volterra, Italy
Grafica, Materia, Colore, Chiesa di S. Paolo all’Orto, Pisa, Italy

1992
Salem Witches Tercentenary Anniversary, Essex Museum, Salem, MA

1991
Emerging Vision (Solo), Melrose Village Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

1990
Apocrypha, Wilton Project Theater, Hollywood, CA

1987
San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA

1982
Evening with the Stars '82, Mexican American Foundation, Westgate Hotel, San Diego, CA
University Club, San Diego, CA

1981
Expo 1981, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mexico City, Mexico

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

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 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)