A B O U T
Sarai Elguezabal. Visual Artist + Educator
Sarai Elguezabal (b. San Diego, CA, 1983) is a visual artist and educator based between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California. Working across photography, video, and installation, her practice explores memory, landscape, family archives, identity, and the complexities of the borderland experience.
Elguezabal works with film, toy cameras, and experimental processes that incorporate natural landscape elements to investigate the relationship between place, time, energy, and environment.
Her artistic practice has been shaped through years of engagement with museums, galleries, and community arts organizations. She began her career with the curatorial installation team at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in 2012, later serving as Program Coordinator at the Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego and working as an art consultant for Lori L Fine Art.
As an artist educator, Elguezabal has developed photography workshops and community-based classes with The FRONT Arte & Cultura and Casa Familiar, focusing on storytelling, memory, and creative engagement.
She studied Visual Arts at FIDM Los Angeles, Darkroom Photography at San Diego City College, and holds a B.A. in Digital Media Design from National University.
Her work has been exhibited at The FRONT Arte & Cultura Gallery, Mi Vida Logan Gallery, Luxe Gallery, Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura (Playas de Tijuana), and Union Hall Gallery.
She is a member of Medium Photo Collective and continues to expand her practice across photography, video, and installation.
A R T I S T S T A T E M E N T
My practice explores the relationship between memory, landscape, the passage of time, and identity through photography, video, and installation. Based on the borderland experience, my work investigates how places carry personal histories, inherited memories, and invisible forces that shape our connection to the environments we inhabit.
Working primarily with analog photography, I use film, toy cameras, and experimental processes involving natural elements to explore the landscape and film. I view chance as an active collaborator, allowing performance, light, time, and environmental conditions to influence the final work.
The photographic process becomes a ritual; I am interested in capturing the essence of spaces, the passage of time, and the unseen forces we inhabit as they inhabit us. Through this approach, I explore photography as a space between documentation and performance.
E X P E R I E N C E + C V
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego 2012-2017 Curatorial Installation Team
Lori L Fine Art 2015–2017 Art Consultant
Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego 2017–2020 Program Coordinator
Community Arts Education 2024–Present Photography Workshops + Teaching
E X H I B I T I O N S
2026
Gossip - www.gossipartshow.com
Union Hall Gallery — San Diego, CA, USA
Selected work: Erosion: El Camino Hacia Mi Montaña
2025
Vision of a Future
The FRONT Arte & Cultura Gallery — San Ysidro, CA, USA
Selected work: Entre Duelos y Alegrías Caminé Sobre las Piedras
2025
Fotos y Morras
Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura (IMAC), Playas de Tijuana — Tijuana, Mexico
Selected work: Experimental Photographic Works
2023
Guerrera
Mi Vida Logan Gallery — San Diego, CA, USA
Selected works: Onírica, Espejo de Mar, Inhala–Exhala
2019
Women in Light
Luxe Gallery / San Diego City College — San Diego, CA, USA
Selected work: Las Líneas que Heredamos
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Exploring Our Self Through the Camera The FRONT Arte & Cultura 2025
A 4-week photography course centered on visual storytelling, identity, and community narratives. Through creative photographic exercises, participants explored the camera as a tool for self-reflection, documenting the places, experiences, and personal stories that shape their sense of belonging.
Cyanotype: Alternative Photographic Processes The FRONT Arte & Cultura 2025
A 4-week workshop exploring cyanotype as an alternative photographic process and a medium for experimentation. Participants learned the foundations of cyanotype printing while exploring with fabric, textures, natural elements, and layered compositions to create collages through light, material, and the sun.
En Route: Photography and Visual Narratives The FRONT Arte & Cultura 2025
A 4 -week photography course exploring the landscape, communities, and cultural spaces of San Diego County through the camera. Participants visited locations including Barrio Logan, San Ysidro, and the Imperial Beach Estuary, developing skills in landscape and street photography while learning to create visual narratives that reflect the identity and stories of each place.
The Beauty of the Everyday: Photography and Personal Expression Villa Merced — Casa Familiar 2026
A 4-week photography workshop designed for seniors, exploring photography as a tool for personal expression and observation. Through accessible photographic exercises and group conversations, participants learned to observe their surroundings with intention and discover beauty within everyday objects and the spaces they inhabit. The workshop encouraged participants to create meaningful images while revisiting their personal photo albums.