rocío sánchez: Entornos

Friday, February 27th at 8pm, ISSUE presents Entornos, a new work for prepared cello by 2026 Artist-In-Residence rocío sánchez. Traveling from Ensenada, Baja California, across the border into San Diego, sánchez traces the acoustic, cultural, and ecological resonances of the US-México Borderlands. Informed by the writings of Gloria Anzaldúa and ideas of queer ecology, Entornos understands geography as contested and continuously becoming. For their first commission, soft, kalimba-like tones and static, roaring wails—produced through cello and manipulated VHS tape—fill ISSUE’s 22 Boerum Pl. theater, weaving together sound, place and memory.

Notes from rocío sánchez on Entornos:

My hometown is part of the Borderland, a city located in the northeast of México; and I was born a few kilometers north of that. This has expanded my opportunities by granting me two nationalities. I did the journey across the border many times growing up, and during my last year of undergraduate studies…