Edgar Fabián Frías’ Portfolio

VESSEL, 2024

In early 2024, I was selected as one of 135 contemporary artists to have my work preserved on the moon's surface as part of the Arch Lunar Art Archive. This honor, along with reflections on mortality and our desire to create vessels that contain our essence, hopes, and dreams, inspired the creation of VESSEL (2024). This public artwork explores vessels—whether UFOs, canoes, spaceships, or art installations—as symbols of resilience, preservation, and intergalactic communication.

Situated at the historic site of Yaangna in Gloria Molina Grand Park, VESSEL merges technology, storytelling, and community through the lens of Indigenous Futurism. Its surface features drawings, paintings, and images depicting a Wixárika origin story featuring Takutsi Nakawé, who saved life on earth from a great flood by instructing Watakame to build canoe to hold life through the chaos. During the opening activation, I invited participants to share their intentions into a solar-powered selenite crystal embedded within the artwork, transforming VESSEL into an amplifier for dreams and desires. At night, the crystal illuminates, casting an oscillating rainbow that transmits these collective intentions into the cosmos. By engaging with UAPs, stories, and projecting prayers into the universe, VESSEL invites viewers to explore new narratives of survival and hope. Commissioned by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture.

Art Spells On The Moon, 2024

Years ago, I began releasing my art spells on Instagram as a way to process my emotions, share hope, and inspire others. These spells quickly evolved beyond social media, finding their way onto billboards, skyscrapers, and now, through the Arch Lunar Art Archive, to the surface of the moon. Selected in 2024, my artwork was preserved using cutting-edge nanotechnology, transforming spellwork into a vessel for intention that extends into the cosmos.

The digital collages above are the four art spells that were a part of the collection sent up to the moon and inscribed on a special disc that can be seen below. Each artwork is etched into nickel sheets using cutting-edge NanoFiche technology, ensuring its preservation for eons to come.

Standing On The Ground With Your Body In The Sky, 2023

This event took place at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) on June 14, 2023. In conjunction with the exhibition Another World: The Transcendental Painting Group, 1938–1945, participants joined me for a performance workshop exploring ways art can be used in individual and collective journeys to connect mind, body, spirit, and creativity. The workshop began with a contemplative moment with the paintings, as well as time for participants to make art, write, and embody their experiences with the paintings. After this, I led the group on a procession through the Resnik Pavilion and the Kendall Concourse, finally ending with the group forming a circle in the museum's Smidt Welcome Plaza. Workshop participants were then invited to perform within the circle.

Kïïka, 2023

This artwork is an expression of Indigenous Futurism, inspired by the Nierika, a sacred Wixárika technology used as a map of the universe and a divining tool for ancestral communion. As a descendant of the Wixárika community, I created Kïïka (meaning "come closer" or "cuddle up") as a maximalist blend of personal and collective symbols, geometric shapes, and vibrant colors. It incorporates references to internet subcultures, abstract art, digital decay, and glitch aesthetics, inviting viewers to use the piece as a contemplative mirror for divination and reflection.

Kïïka was featured in the exhibition LIFELIKE: Exploring Body Sovereignty in Web3 at both Vellum in Los Angeles and the University Art Gallery at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. During the exhibition at Cal Poly, I was invited by curator Katie Peyton Hofstadter to lead a contemplative and performative experience as part of the opening. The artwork was also curated into SUMMERTIME by Marcela Vieira, a collaboration between SUPERCOLLIDER, the Brand Library and Art Center, and Glendale Unified School District.

Kïïka was recently highlighted in C Magazine for an article on AI, sovereignty, and gender expansiveness and has been selected as the cover image for the forthcoming Witch Anthology through Dopamine Books in Los Angeles.

Hechizo Tuutú, 2023

Hechizo Tuutú (2023) is a 9-minute "art spell" showcased on the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco throughout June for Pride 2023. Created in collaboration with witch Gabriela Herstik during my artist residency at Coaxial Arts Foundation in Los Angeles and in partnership with Jim Campbell's Studio (Day for Night, 2018) and Boston Properties, this work fuses generative art, animations, and performative rituals. The title, meaning “flower spell” in Spanish and Wixárika, reflects its blend of Indigenous Futurism, Latinx, and queer aesthetics.

The project gained media attention, including coverage by KRON4 TV in San Francisco.

Press

Artwork featured on KRON4: San Francisco Bay Area News.

Stills