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Exuvia

Featured in Thresholds of Memory Namita Paul (b. 1970)Exuvia, 2026Canvas, thread, found textile, trim, glitter, gold leaf, graphite54 x 43 in. (approx.)Courtesy of the artist In the summer of 2024, while walking the shoreline at Half Moon Bay, the artist came upon the remains of a baleen whale. At first, it resembled the glacial rocks scattered along the coast. Closer inspection revealed its strange placement, the flies, flashes of pink flesh, and the unusual architecture of the baleen. The whale’s outer skin had already been stripped away. What remained was neither flesh nor skeleton, but something in between—a vessel still bearing…

W.M.265

Featured in Thresholds of Memory Namita Paul (b. 1970)W.M.265, 2022Canvas, burlap, indigo dyes, sequins, currency, mirrors, acrylic, twinkle lightsCollection of Amanda Minami Fragments of childhood memories from her annual visits to her paternal grandparents' home in Punjab, India, are forever etched in the artist's mind. A wooden door with an iron knocker… a dark, cool, narrow passageway... a small kitchen with a concrete floor and shelves on two walls… windowless living rooms… the sound of rain drumming down on the courtyard floor and the touch of wet stone on the soles of her feet. This is the house where Namita Paul…

Red Threshold

Featured in Thresholds of Memory Namita Paul (b. 1970)Red Threshold, 2024Canvas, polyester on canvas, plastic bangles, plastic jasmine, embroidery thread, wood box frame, suede, indigo dye, acrylic and spray paint62 x 72 x 4 in.Courtesy of Qualia Contemporary Art and the artist Once dyed indigo, the canvas was physically dragged through the waters and sands of the Pacific Ocean before it was painted red. These gestures were made to conjure erasure, purification, and release. While the marks made by the tide, sand, and rocks lay beyond Paul’s control, Red Threshold is, at its core, a profoundly personal work. Every abrasion, stain,…

Devil’s Slide

Featured in Thresholds of Memory Namita Paul (b. 1970)Devil’s Slide, 2026 (detail)Canvas, trims, gold leaf, aluminum leaf, salt, ink85 x 216 in.Courtesy of the artist Devil’s Slide is a stretch of California coastline that the artist returned to again and again during a period of profound rupture. Its unstable cliffs, shifting terrain, and relentless erosion became both companion and witness. Seeking solace, Paul returned repeatedly to this coastline—driving the same roads, walking beside the same water, watching fog continually erase and reveal the cliffs. Each visit revealed a coastline subtly altered by time. Gradually, the landscape became more than the backdrop…

Daydream

Featured in Thresholds of Memory Namita Paul (b. 1970)Daydream, 2025Burlap, muslin24 x 18 in.Courtesy of the artist Daydream considers the architecture of longing: the spaces we construct inwardly from fragments of places known, remembered, or imagined. The arch suggests a passage. It is simultaneously an opening and a boundary — a place the mind can cross, even when the body cannot. Reduced almost entirely to form, texture, and light, the work hovers between architecture and apparition. What remains is not the building itself, but its impression: the shape that a place leaves behind. Namita Paul

Where Jasmine Bloomed

Featured in Thresholds of Memory Namita Paul (b. 1970)Where Jasmine Bloomed, 2025Burlap, cotton, plastic jasmine flowers, crystalina, sequins24 x 18 in.Courtesy of the artist Where Jasmine Bloomed is drawn from a vivid memory rooted in Namita Paul’s childhood in Mysore, India. She and her family lived on a quiet tree-lined street, in a home with a terrace. They shared a wall with the house next door, and along that dividing line, a jasmine bush grew, leaning gently in between neighbors. The girl next door was older. She would go up to the terrace to gather jasmine for her mother’s puja (prayer…

Manifest

Featured in Thresholds of Memory Namita Paul (b. 1970)Manifest, 2023Canvas, gold leaf, dried marigold flowers, sharpie, coarse pumice gel61 x 41 inchesPrivate Collection Manifest came from a place of deep wanting. Wanting things to hold. Wanting them to not fall apart. Wanting to believe that repeated gestures, care, and prayers—might be enough. Made of stitched canvas bricks covered in gold leaf, it evokes a wall, a garment, or even a kind of map. Gold represents what is sacred, and what is offered when there is nothing else left. It is what the gods are wrapped in, and also what is sometimes…

Tequila House

Featured in The Art & Architecture of Maybe Viviana Paredes (b. 1954)Tequila House, 2018Recycled deconstructed tequila bottles, wire, steel, and twigs90 x 73-1/4 x 83-1/4 in.Courtesy of the artistPhoto by Paul Gallo Tequila House was conceived as part of Viviana Paredes' ongoing investigation of the maguey (agave) plant and its many medicinal and utilitarian uses by indigenous peoples throughout the Americas, particularly in rural Mexico. Since ancient times, this plant has been used for food, medicine, building material, rope, and ritualistic piercing. Today, many of these ancient practices have been abandoned in the face of increasing commercial demand for tequila and mezcal.…

Control Tower

Featured in The Art & Architecture of Maybe Cameron Hockenson (1975-2015)Control Tower, 2011/ revisited 2026Recycled redwood144 x 48 in.Montalvo Arts Center Permanent CollectionPhoto by Robert Most Cameron Hockenson's environmental artwork is concerned with the vernacular landscape and issues of biocultural diversity. His sculptures and site-specific installations address place as an outgrowth of dwelling, collecting, and memory. Hockenson built this "bird condominium" over the course of a three-month-long residency at Montalvo, collaborating with fellow resident Robert Davis and Montalvo's then-garden curator, Delmar McComb, to enrich the original installation with electronic sound and a bird garden. Reactivated for The Art & Architecture of Maybe, Control Tower invites visitors into a whimsical space where…

Rolling Counterpoint and Holding what you have lost

Featured in The Art & Architecture of Maybe Taro Hattori (b. 1969)Rolling Counterpoint, 2016Holding what you have lost, 2026Wood, metal, stones, other materials9 x 9 x 8 ft. (teahouse); 12 x 4 x 4 ft. (bench); 7 x 4 x 4 ft. (bench)Commissioned by Montalvo Art Center’s Lucas Artists Program Rolling Counterpoint was created by artist Taro Hattori to explore how a conversation in a teahouse could bridge the distance we feel from one another. It was intended to be a space to connect and bridge diverse and often disconnected communities, and foster public dialogue about notions of division and belonging in contemporary society. Reactivated for this exhibition,…

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