A two-venue exhibition of new work and reimagined installationsFebruary 11 - May 16, 2026
Opening Reception: February 14, 2026, 12 - 3 pm at 500 Capp Street, 5 -7 pm at Root Division
500 Capp Street and Root Division present Open Your Eyes to Water, a solo exhibition of the work of San Francisco-based visual artist Trina Michelle Robinson that spans both venues.
For nearly a decade, Robinson has utilized an embodied, research-based, and multidisciplinary approach rooted in personal and historical archives to create immersive installations that engage ancestry, memory, and the layered geographies of Black migration. Her work takes the archive as both evidence and prompt, revealing the emotional and material strata that official histories often omit. Robinson’s interdisciplinary practice moves fluidly across film, printmaking, sound, and installation.
Presenting new works and expanded installations, the exhibition unfolds across two sites, tracing the artist’s explorations of migration, lineage, and the revelations that surface through material, medium, and place.
At 500 Capp Street, Robinson will transform the Parlor Room and Garage into a living installation tracing her years-long cross-continental engagement with family lineage and movement from Senegal, to Kentucky, Chicago, and California. At Root Division, the artist will re-stage an expanded version of her installation Elegy for Nancy (2022), a tender tribute to her oldest known ancestor, a woman named Nancy who was born in 1800s Louisiana and lived in Kentucky with special altar contributions from Bay Area Black women artists, underscoring how collective knowledge, imagination, and care can reframe historical erasure.
“Trina Michelle Robinson is one of the most talented and thoughtful artists working in the Bay Area today,” says exhibition curator PJ Gubatina Policarpio. “Her intricate prints and film installations have been standouts in numerous group exhibitions. I’m so thrilled to be able to work with her to bring this powerful work together and present her singular vision at two iconic Bay Area spaces: 500 Capp Street and Root Division.”
“I’m excited to have a solo exhibition highlighting how I trace my family’s migration to California, via Chicago, from Kentucky, using a research-based interdisciplinary approach at two important spaces in San Francisco,” says Robinson. “Especially because of the significance of each location, with 500 Capp Street being centered on experimentation and research, and Root Division’s dedication to creating community, which is also very important to me.”
“At 500 Capp Street, we’re interested in how artists trace the movement of stories across generations and geographies,” adds Lian Ladia, curator, 500 Capp Street. “Partnering with Root Division to present Trina’s work highlights the significance of these two sites and the distinct ways they hold experimentation and community. With support from the Teiger Foundation, we’re honored to accompany both Robinson’s and Policarpio’s practices as they continue to expand in scope and depth.”
Open Your Eyes to Water is supported at 500 Capp Street by Teiger Foundation and at Root Division by Grants for the Arts and San Francisco Arts Commission.