In Sandy’s Room is one of Aguilar’s many nude photographs that critiques the oppression that Latinas, queer, fat, disabled, and working-class peoples face. Here Aguilar captures her own nude body relaxing in an Eastside Los Angeles home, connected through an open window to the trees outside. This is a nude that naturalizes women’s bodies and their comfort, pushing back against the stilted, objectified poses that still typify many female nudes today. As self-portraiture, it represents many intersecting communities and invites connection, compassion, and reflection.

—Gwen D’Arcangelis, Associate Professor, Gender Studies

From the exhibition: Where Words Falter: Art and Empathy (July 9 – December 18, 2022)