CARA ROMERO

– CARA ROMERO –

Chemehuevi, 1977—

Cara Romero is a Contemporary Native American artist of the Chemehuevi Tribe, known for her innovative approach to photography and exploration of Native identity through a modern lens. Cara Romero's work is characterized by its vibrant, often surreal imagery that blends traditional Native American elements with contemporary art practices.  Cara’s photographic work reveals a deep commitment to social issues, feminism, anti-colonialism and the eternal verities of procreation and survival. 

Through a combination of staged scenes, symbolic imagery, and modern aesthetics Cara Romero challenges and redefines representations of Native American people and culture. Her work features models dressed in traditional attire, set against carefully constructed backdrops that reflect both historical and contemporary themes. The artist often includes her own family and friends as subjects. 

Cara Romero has exhibited her work extensively in galleries and museums across the United States and Internationally. In 2024 alone, she has had work included in many major exhibitions, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Nasher Museum of Art, the Gorman Museum, the Heard Museum and the Palm Springs Art Museum. Romero has had solo exhibitions at the San Diego Museum of Art, the Museum of Anthropology in Denver and the San Bernadino County Museum in California. Cara Romero’s work is included in the permanent and prestigious collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Hood Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the RISD Museum, as well as the British Museum and the Bristol Museum in the United Kingdom, among many other Institutions. 

A major touring retrospective of Cara Romero’s work will begin at the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College in January 2025, titled Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light).