Riverbank
Curated by Gavin Piedra
September 12 - October 31, 2025
Opening Friday September 12, 5-9pm
Featuring artwork by:
Sam Takeda • Alix Sivollella • Charles Pace • Juno Lumetta • Vandecent • Emmet Bush • Mia Ixchel Sanchez • Erica Morris • Keertana Panyam • Daniel Alejandro Trejo • Hilda Wang • Jennifer Cheung • Shiu Tung Cheung • Tsu-Jui Hsieh • Jacqueline Van Lang • Carolyn Van Lang • Tamara Blackshear • Sean Beats Grigsby • Richard Fowler • Debra Logan • Artist SMG • D’ann Kearns • Jeff Karabedian • Sadie Buckner
Riverbank features over twenty different artists with a focus on young, queer, and neurodiverse lenses. As cognitive and spiritual parts of a greater whole, their contributions are pertinent to a continuous human culture. The contour and vessel of a river traverses often great stretches of land – frontiers that have been pushed and carved forward through the culmination of thousands, or even millions of years. Here, the river is the covert stream so much as it is the raging cascade. Rivers are capable of regenerating a variety of geographical schemata at any point along their journey. All-encompassing, this multiple quality is true to the artist in their own right. Riverbank professes that we are the process and the content; the work and its elements; the location and destination at once in our accumulation of meaning and desire. This exhibit invites the viewer to observe the channels through which one might spend their time carving, building, and giving form to vision. Young ideas take reinforced shapes, and become affirmed in their medium. These are things to be fostered and grown. Direction, resonance, response, result. All things collide in the watery expanses of creation.
Many thanks to Henry Beecher, Jennifer Cheung, Lisa Rybovich Crallé, Michael Davey, Nima Thapaswar, and the Student Arts Guild at BCC for making this exhibition possible.
Installation view featuring works by Charles Pace (foreground) and Erica Morris (hanging).
Sketchbooks by Sam Takeda
Sadie Buckner, Fears and Fears??, 2025 Alcohol marker on panel, 8” x 8”
Emmet Bush (@emmetbushart) is an artist based in Berkeley CA, primarily working with acrylic, ink, colored pencil, and graphite. His practice explores the challenging parts of the internal human experience that are often kept private: mental health, altered states, the transgender experience, the occult, and mortality. Through his work, he makes these taboo subjects approachable. Emmet dances with mysticism and visionary art, translating the nebulous emotional world into tangible figures through painting and drawing. Swirling dots and vectors represent energy fields, while repeated silhouettes represent the frames of time. His work investigates the architecture of the universe that exists beyond the limitations of human perception. His work draws from Jewish mythology, out-of-body experiences, paranormal encounters, and dreams that allow him to peek behind the veil. Through this practice, he comes to accept all the parts of himself and opens a space for others to reflect on their relationship to the parts of life we are taught to keep hidden. emmethbush@gmail.com
Carolyn Van Lang has always been painting while practicing architecture. Her love of painting has helped tremendously in her work in architecture and vice versa. Her architectural education had prepared her with drawing, painting, compositional and color coordination skills- all of which lend themselves well to the art of her choice: Asian brush painting. www.personalspace.space info@personalspace.space 7 She gave credit to Parsons School of Design for giving her a well-rounded education in the Arts and endowed her with design sensibilities and visual acuity for artistic endeavors. In the art of brush painting, Carolyn is mostly self-taught at the beginning and now; with new online technologies, she has taken some zoom classes and watched Youtube videos for acquiring new techniques. She professed influences from renowned Chinese and Japanese artists such as Qin Tian Zhu, Zhao Shao’ang, Ohara Koson, and Shibata Zeshin. Since 2024, she has been taking classes with Lingnan artist Philip K.K. Chan who had received instructions from Master Zhao Shao’ang. In her paintings, Carolyn strives toward lyrical simplicity that takes the viewers beyond the edges of the paintings. She aims to invite a curiosity to understand the languages between living things in nature. She embraces the Japanese aesthetic concept of Iki, whereas a simple work of art when the viewer understands the effort taken to achieve its result but one’s first impression is that of spontaneity and carefreeness. A tranquil lack of self-consciousness coupled with ephemerality is what permeates through her paintings. cvlarch@gmail.com
Jacqueline Van Lang: I am an avid gardener. In the garden, I witness so many beautiful things that few get to see. The ephemeral living elements are constantly changing depending on their growth stage and season. My collages are attempts to capture their beauty before they fade and are forgotten. Together, with my imaginary vases, they represent my ultimate compositions of enchantment. jvanlang@hotmail.com
Sam Takeda (@s.0chii) works across painting, writing, and assemblage, treating each medium as a way to trace thought. Her practice begins with curiosities, habits, and instincts -- copying notes, lifting language, or following whatever feels compelling in the moment -- as a means of negotiating with systems of value, cultural expectations, truth and fiction, and a shifting sense of self. Rather than producing polished objects, Takeda embraces unfinished and provisional forms. Her works often read as indexes of attention and relation, where borrowed structures, text, found materials, and experimental gestures serve less as final products than as evidence of ongoing inquiry. At its core, her practice resists closure. It reflects a desire to understand both self and environment with greater clarity by remaining open-eared, recursive, and receptive. stakeda@risd.edu
Juno Lumetta (@xo_juno): Minutiae, catharsis, pattern, recognition, meditation, translation, distortion, juxtaposition, repetition, personal, universal, dialectic. Iris, retina, nerve, light, signal, color, vision. Juno Lumetta is an East Bay-based multimedia artist and art historian who tows the line between the recognizable and the uncanny. Their work draws attention to the subjectivity of perception and the paradoxical, constructed nature of reality both thematically and technically. By layering color, texture, and forms, they recreate their eye’s own path, clinging to details and shifting perspectives frequently. Portraiture, botany, and text frequently act as both subjects and motifs, relaying their fixation on faces and flora and fascination with the relationship between word and image. All Stars (in America) (2022): We’re all made of stars, but we come in so many different configurations. This diversity made America what it is, but is often maliciously misconstrued as the country’s biggest threat. After coming across a poem penciled onto a Downtown Berkeley wall titled “Funny and Stern About Private Parts” that went “I think they’re great, private parts // I think they’re terrible, horrendous, www.personalspace.space info@personalspace.space 9 and harmful; circumcision // Thanks for speaking out, holy shit!” — I felt compelled to reflect on this continued reality of living in America. Specifically, the fractured nature of political discourse characterized by extremes. The repeated “fuck yous” embody that and heighten the sarcasm of the final line. The floral forms, also found downtown, rest atop layers of surgical masks and other synthetic materials. Each is painted with the same pattern: little cartoonish faces that accompanied the found poem. junolumetta@gmail.com
Daniel Alejandro Trejo (@dnltrejo): It’s a noticeable pain. Processing the newly discovered wounds of unspoken familial histories that stretch so far between generations, it goes unnoticed. The wounds suffocate any attempt at clarity. There is no proof, only the faint weight of our intuition and our deepest sensibilities that defy tangibility. Backed into the wall, recognizing a need for evidence, and scrutinizing the invention of it to substantiate a sensation whose absence feels louder than its presence ever could: Evidence for love. Evidence for a genetic condition. Evidence for the best mattress or the coolest pillow. Evidence for the freshest flowers. Bound to a single dimension in a particular space, I see paintings as constrained sculptures. They are objects that are flattened into silence, and still, these objects assert themselves and are capable of shifting the atmosphere of a room entirely. I’m listening carefully, like a radio astronomer tuned into a distant frequency hoping to catch something quiet, but real, which will influence my next decision. dnl.trejo@gmail.com
Hilda Wang: Hilda's 2D work draws from her immigrant experience, interest in the ephemeral and transient, inquiry into the construction of memory and identity, and appreciation for our perplexing and fragile bodies. Her materials reflect these interests as she works primarily in dust (charcoal), water (sumi and watercolor), and graphite for her portraiture and figurative work. Most of her 2D work is done at the kitchen table under the supervision of at least one cat. Hilda's ceramic work primarily focuses on tableware from the studio pottery tradition of Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada. She ruminates about bowl shapes and mug handles way too much. One day she hopes to make a piece buzzing with spirit. Hilda enjoys museum trips and teaching art. She typically crafts felt projects and decorates cookies while watching the Golden Girls. She lives, walks, studies, and bakes in the East Bay. hilda@palebluewall.com
Mia Ixchel Sanchez (@miaxchelart) (b. 2003) is an emerging artist born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Mia recently graduated with a BA in Art Practice with a minor in Art History at the University of California, Berkeley, in Berkeley CA. Mia primarily works with oil paints and drawing media, and has participated in group exhibitions in UC Berkeley’s Worth Ryder Art Gallery such as “Between Now and Then” in Berkeley, CA, where they showcased their work “divine dualities, what is gender?” 2025. miaxchels@gmail.com
Alix Bao Khanh Sivolella (@maiquyt_) is a student artist who has always been surrounded by art thanks to her first and favorite gallery: the house she grew up in. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she received her Associate Degrees for Transfer in Studio Arts & Art History from Berkeley City College. Following her motto “Everything is an egg,” she is interested in the cyclic nature of life and numbers -numbers of people, numbers of generations, numbers of lines- and the binaries that emerge within them. Through the lens of her personal life and relationships, her work investigates this idea and the multitudes that build together to make everyday life. She has recently started pursuing a dual degree in Visual Arts and Art History at Columbia University’s School of General Studies and is currently enjoying growing her own new, personal gallery: her apartment room. Protuberance (2023): ‘Protuberance’ is based on microscopic imaging of plant cells. I chose a cobalt blue and white palette to reference blue and white Chinese porcelain. I was interested in how both processes use dye/pigment but are otherwise very different (softness vs. hardness of ceramic, scientific captures of nature vs. man-made acts of craft and creation). I aimed to make a painting that was simultaneously organic in shape but almost cold and frozen in appearance. alixsivolella@gmail.com
Vandecent (@vandecent): Hi, I'm Randy. Nice to meet you. I specialize in creating vibrant portraits all throughout Northern California. When I’m not behind the camera, you can find me gliding on skates, savoring poke bowls, downing kombucha, or getting passionate about Bob’s Burgers. I've worked with stylists, models, designers, and other photographers throughout California, gaining experience across all aspects of photography. This means that no matter your vision, whether it’s bold, classic, or unique, I'm here to help bring it to life. vandecent.com, randy.am18@gmail.com
Charles Pace (@charles.pace.art) is a queer artist currently studying at the UC Berkeley Art Practice program. He works through a variety of mediums in a consistent pursuit of visual communication, discussing the flux state of human existence and identity through an ever-changing contemporary lens. Solidarity—feeling seen and seeing others through visual language—is at the core of his work. The pursuit of holistic communication through image and form has been a way to connect himself to others and feel seen in his own life. His artistic practice has been a vehicle for processing the shame and self-hatred caused by internalized homophobia—a trademark of the queer male experience. The intersections of these personal struggles with the pervasive and inescapable nature of modern technology and surveillance are at the crux of his investigation. How is the internalization of cultural attitudes exacerbated by the panopticon-esque technological reality we navigate today? Cameras Aren’t Real (2024): This sculpture is intended to physically embody the sensation of looming surveillance in modern society and its detrimental impact on youth culture. Aspects of youth culture have been permanently damaged by the surveillance and security technology being increasingly implemented in public spaces. Despite signs forbidding it, the youth of past generations would hang out at their schools, parks, parking lots, etc., after hours. House parties, forest raves, and skate spots—all once integral aspects of youth culture—are becoming a thing of the past. Such impromptu youth gatherings served as fundamental spaces for making connections and building community. Today, we see security levels akin to prisons in a simple parking lot, discouraging such “delinquent” behavior. Eight-foot fences, blinking security cameras, motion lights, signs, and padlocks are closing off local spaces; even simple grassy hills are being fenced off because of their popularity, leading to a slow but sure suppression of modern youth culture. The incoming generations are losing the freedom to make mistakes in the name of protection and are consequently losing out on important opportunities for connection. Many cite Gen Z as the “loneliest generation,” and no, it's not just because of that damn phone. We are overly coddling a generation already criticized for being too “soft” and too anxious to make it in the “real world,” a generation told that we don't go outside enough, yet www.personalspace.space info@personalspace.space 13 outside hangs a giant sign that reads “no loitering,” accompanied by a camera to enforce it. charlestpace@gmail.com
Keertana Panyam (@fnlgrlxyz) is a designer and researcher whose work examines fashion as material, historical, and theoretical culture, as well as a medium for applied design. keertana.panyam@gmail.com
Erica Morris (@ricammorris) is an art student who fell in love with making & learning about art during her time at Berkeley City College and Laney. The fulfillment she experienced in her Art History, Visual Culture, 3D design, and Painting classes became the foundation for the rest of her life. She is currently pursuing her BFA in Design, History, & Practice with a focus on Studio Art and Curatorial Studies at Parsons School of Design. She loves painting outside —despite her allergies— and is motivated by her deep appreciation of twilight, nature, and her hometown. As of recently, her focus has broadened to include developing a better understanding of her heritage so that she can make her own family heirlooms. Neighbors (2025): This quilt is the result of combining my interest in preserving my family traditions and my more recent fascination with the casually voyeuristic act of glancing into strangers' living rooms while driving at night. My process for constructing this quilt began with sewing lessons from my grandma and examining the construction of quilts she inherited from her grandmothers. The references for the silhouettes, excluding the man with the trumpet, are from Arne svenson's photographic series on his neighbors. However brief, depicting quiet moments of intimacy with strangers reveals understanding others to be a much easier feat than we tend to presume. Morre127@newschool.edu
Jennifer Cheung and Shiu Tung Cheung are a daughter-father set of artists that hail from Taipei, Taiwan and Hunan Province, China respectively. Shiu Tung strongly developed his jade carving practice in Taipei during the 1970s, after the birth of his daughter who soon gravitated towards the practice of creation. The sequence for jade carvings demands keen assessments of stone quality, cutting, design, rough carving, fine carving, polishing and waxing. Shiu Tung’s jade pieces are intense objects of dedication to quality work and refinement of his craft and discipline – yet amongst the artist’s proclivities, the viewer can find joy, humor, admiration, and curiosity, everything interwoven by a hierarchy of elegance. Some rings are thinner than a cellphone charger. His delicateness informs appraisal. Jennifer Cheung took interest to multiple art forms through childhood – some included textile work, paper-cutting, collage – but the key philosophies that would define the evolution of her orientation to art and career were found in the art of painting. Beginning her art education in Taipei and continuing her practice at El Cerrito High School, she learned quickly of her penchant for loose and organic brushwork. As naturally as the brush leaves a mark on the canvas, Jennifer borrows from an unlimited cosmos of creative thought so as to clear her own path towards resolution. She was fourteen years of age when she made a single departure from her typical work at the advice of her high school art teacher and painted Mom and Baby (1982). The viewer may appreciate the quick, lyrical choices in color and shape in her first and last abstracted painting. Jennifer went on to work in apparel-design in the later part of her teenage years, until she found her place in product development and sourcing, where she continues to merge her interests in materiality and detail.
Gavin Piedra (@g4vinpie) is a forever student of our shared existence. His focuses lie in our constantly shifting senses of time, place, meaning, and self. His life is spent reconciling the full spectrum of these driving forces through his interactions with people, history and design. gavin.piedra@gmail.com