Time Shards art opening at OXH GALLERY

TIME SHARDS
Presented by OXH Gallery
January 30, 2025 – March 20, 2025

Opening Reception:
Thursday, January 30, 6 – 9pm

OXH GALLERY
1624 E 7th Ave, suite 237
Ybor City, Tampa
Florida 33605

PRESS RELEASE

Exhibition view: Delaina Doshi and Rebeca Lopera Esteban TIME SHARDS here, OXH Gallery Tampa, 2025.

OXH GALLERY is pleased to present Time Shards featuring Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist Delaina Doshi and Madrid-born Rebeca Lopera Esteban invested in the sculptural research domain.

The two-person exhibition will be on view January 30, 2025 through March 20, 2025, with opening reception taking place on Thursday, January 30, 6-9pm.

What really interests both artists is the act of transformation which they investigate through a densely layered representation of of both their personal experiences (under the guise of metaphors) and the more abstract aspects of the imaginative act: one that could reshape reality as it exists, even in its broken state, into a luminous world offering endless possibilities.
In Doshi’s case, this transformative process explores broader themes of material culture, diaspora, and the universal struggle of reconciling complex emotions towards individuals and environments that once caused harm while Lopera’s practice incorporates found objects (elements with a hidden past modified to create new form) alongside wood and plaster to both reference and defy traditional processes.

At first glance, Lopera’s Untitled Manifesto composed of thousands of small, smooth, pebble-like glass shards, each hand marked with a marker to represent a letter of the Spanish alphabet from ‘a’ to ‘z’ stands in clear contrast with Doshi’s larger, coarser pieces of shattered pottery which she smashes as a reclamation of her personhood and sexuality. Yet, both bodies of work, although rooted in the domain of conceptual sculptural gestures, share not only a similar painterly sensibility but also the implicit belief in the act of deconstruction and remaining to hold psychological residue powerful enough to weave together diverse experiences.

More timely than ever, the work of Delaina Doshi, an ex-vangelical Daughter of the American Revolution raised in the rural Midwest, now married to a first-generation Indian American, nurturing a daughter amidst the intersections of those worlds and that of Rebeca Lopera Esteban, a Madrid-born artist who moved to Miami at 22 years old without speaking the language and currently works as an Adjunct Professor in the Art Department at FIU and has garnered recognition through her scholarship, speak volumes about the fragility of personal spaces and the vulnerability of daily lives.

Venue:

OXH Gallery
www.oxhgallery.com

OXH Gallery is a young gallery based in Tampa, Florida focused on supporting female artists. Through its online and physical exhibition program, OXH Gallery works closely with artists to create opportunities for them to reach artistic and financial success through a strong curatorial program, exposure to museum acquisition teams, critics and collectors as well as special events and artist talks.

Participating artists:

1- Delaina Doshi
https://www.delainadoshi.com/

Delaina Doshi, a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist, reimagines textiles through a fusion of tesserae, assemblage, and archival techniques, exploring narratives of personal heritage and material culture inspired by her rural Midwestern upbringing and experiences married to a first-generation Indian American. Her rich alternative tapestries have been exhibited nationally and internationally, with her recent work Reconciled winning Best in Show at the 2023 Evanston + Vicinity Biennial.

2- Rebeca Lopera Esteban
https://rebecaloperaartist.com/

Rebeca Lopera, a Madrid-born artist, delves into the fragility of personal spaces and the vulnerability of daily lives. Rooted in conceptual art, she explores her experiences transitioning from Madrid to Miami, investigating cultural and personal change. Having earned her BFA from Madrid Complutense University and undertaken an exchange program at the Fine Arts Academy in Carrara, Italy, Lopera’s academic journey laid the foundation for her artistic endeavors. She earned her MFA at Florida International University in Miami, and she embraces a diverse range of sculptural materials, from plaster and ceramics to found objects, infusing her pieces with layers of history and identity.

Events

Opening Reception:
Thursday, January 30, 6-9pm
Closing Reception:
Thursday, March 20, 6-9pm