Actual Size is a group exhibition curated by Lara Bullock, Ph.D., bringing together the work of Space 4 Art resident artists Andrew Alcasid, Diana Benavídez, Nick Lesley, and May-ling Martinez, alongside former S4A resident Aldo Cervantes. The final exhibition in Space 4 Art’s series of seven exhibitions produced through the Prebys Arts Ecosystem grant, Actual Size turns our attention toward the human-scale: the intimate, ordinary, and lived experiences that shape how we understand ourselves and the world around us.
We take for granted that the words “actual size” represent fact, even when they accompany an illustrative representation that asks us to suspend disbelief. In a world increasingly shaped by images, technology, spectacle, and mediation, Actual Size asks what happens when we return our attention to the scale of human experience. The exhibition creates space to slow down and consider the everyday realities that affect our lives— and the power we retain to witness, to pay attention, and to be moved to action.
The artists in Actual Size do not retreat from the larger forces shaping contemporary life. Instead, they return us to the places where life is lived: ordinary objects, familiar rituals, the built environment, memory, and the body itself. Andrew Alcasid’s ceramics hold the physical imprint of the body; Diana Benavídez transforms a familiar celebratory object into a meditation on fear, protection, and defiance; Aldo Cervantes traces memory, migration, family history, and speculative futures; Nick Lesley creates an interactive installation that turns the spectacle of impending doom back toward the viewer; and May-ling Martinez transforms found objects into vessels for meaning, connection, and orientation.
There is a quiet boldness in this return to the immediate and tangible. Actual Size does not promise an uncomplicated feeling of hope. Instead, it asks us to be present— to witness, observe, and simply be. By focusing on the intimate, the local, and the lived, the exhibition invites us to consider how individual experience can foster connection, empathy, and a renewed sense of agency. If spectacle encourages us to look everywhere at once, the artists in Actual Size ask us to look closely instead. Meaning begins at the scale of human experience.
Exhibition Details
Title: Actual Size
Curator: Lara Bullock
Exhibit Dates: October 10 - November 7, 2026
Gallery Hours: Fridays 1-7 p.m.; Saturdays 12-6 p.m.; or by appointment
Opening Reception: October 10 | 4-7 p.m.
Sip & Learn: October 23 | 5-8 p.m. (part of IDEA Week)
Sound Bath: November 7 | 4-5 p.m.
Closing Reception: November 7 | 5-7 p.m.
Free Workshops: (To Be Updated Soon!)
Location: Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., San Diego
Presented by: Space 4 Art in partnership with Art Produce
Supported by: The Prebys Foundation Arts Ecosystem Grant
For press inquiries, interviews, or additional information, please contact Katie Ruiz: katie@sdspace4art.org.
This Space 4 Art-produced exhibition is the seventh and final exhibition as part of our year-long residency at Art Produce, funded by a generous grant from the Prebys Foundation.
The year-long programming partnership between Space 4 Art and Art Produce aims to expand support for local artists, deepen community engagement, and strengthen the city’s creative ecosystem through exhibitions, workshops, artist talks, and cross-organizational collaboration.
The Prebys grant aims to help address structural challenges such as the lack of affordable arts spaces where community-based organizations like Space 4 Art can produce accessible arts programming.
The Space 4 Art @ initiative provides a synergistic means for activation at Art Produce, which remains committed to building on decades of creative experimentation and community-building in North Park.