Hayley Barker: Laguna Castle

In 2022, the Los Angeles local Hayley Barker was invited to take part in a temporary artist residency honoring the late Echo Park resident and activist, Isa-Kae Meksin, hosted from her vacant apartment by her friend and former assistant Martin Cox. The works on view in Barker’s exhibition “Laguna Castle” (named for Meksin’s building of residence) are the result of this period of creation, during which the artist created a portrait of Meksin’s existence, depicted not through imagery of Meksin herself, but through her connection to place and objects. Born from close observation and photographs of her surroundings, Barker’s presentation (the artist’s debut solo exhibition at Night Gallery) offers a larger-picture dialogue on themes like mortality, longing, fragility, and resilience, connecting the imagery of Laguna Castle with that of other locations—one being the artist’s parents’ home.