SaveArtSpace is proud to present Soft But Hard, a public art exhibition on billboard ad space in Los Angeles, CA, opening May 22, 2026, curated by Reesa Baxter.

The Soft But Hard selected artist is Ana Christie Elias (Please Enjoy This).

Monumentalizing all those squishy, uncontainable things we’re taught to hide, to cover up and poke and prod into an acceptable shape. What if we celebrated the evidence of time passing over us instead of feeling ashamed that we are changed by it? Like water passing over a shard of glass softens its edges - weathering storm after storm leaves us softer too. How do we stay soft, even when it gets hard? How does your softness make you strong?

Opening May 22, 2026, SaveArtSpace will launch a public art installation for the selected artwork on billboard ad space in Los Angeles, CA. The public art will be on view for at least four weeks.

Selected Artist

Location: Main St & E Adams Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

I’m Ana Christie, a graphic designer and illustrator based in Latin America.

Over the past several years, I’ve been developing Please Enjoy This, a personal project where I create expressive, character-driven illustrations inspired by fashion, music, and everyday life. My work explores softness, identity, and emotion through bold color, stylized figures, and a playful visual language.

I’m interested in moving away from traditional ideas of perfection, focusing instead on portraits, feelings, and moments that feel real, intimate, and unapologetically present.

Connect with Ana at @pleaseenjoythis.

Curator

Reesa Baxter is an artist, illustrator and product designer best known for her paintings and illustrations of women that marry mythic symbolism and mundane life through technicolor palettes, lush landscapes and cheeky details. Themes of her work include the body, body image, emotional honesty, love, sexuality, femininity, nature, food, dreams and the internet. Her illustrations have appeared in Vice, Refinery29, Kiblind, BUST, Polyester and Autostraddle.

Reesa is currently illustrating a Tarot Deck to be published by Row House fall 2026.

Connect with Reesa at @reesabobeesa.

SaveArtSpace

Founded in 2015, SaveArtSpace is a non-profit organization that works to create an urban gallery experience, launching exhibitions that address intersectional themes and foster a message of social change that benefits the working class. By placing culture over commercialism, SaveArtSpace aims to empower artists from all walks of life and inspire a new generation of young creatives and activists.