Showing at San Francisco Art Fair April 25-28, 2024

You’re invited to San Francisco Art Fair (formerly Art Market), April 25-28, 2024 at Fort Mason Center. This is my favorite art fair in SF, and I’m excited to be showing six new works at the Heron Arts booth. There will be 85 galleries exhibiting this year.

The fair is open to the public at the following times ($35 for a single-day ticket):

Friday, April 26, 2024: 11am—7pm
Saturday, April 27, 2024: 11am—7pm
Sunday, April 28, 2024: 11am—6pm

The Opening Evening is Thursday, April 25, 6-9pm. If you’d like to attend that event (i.e., for first dibs!), you’ll need to purchase a fair pass ($65), which gets you into the opening, plus all three days. I’ll be at the opening on Thursday.

Location: Fort Mason Festival Pavilion, 2 Marina Boulevard, SF. Tickets can be purchased online, or at the door.

If you’d like to see the advance preview of my work ahead of time, email Tova Lobatz, Heron Arts director and curator.

Artist Talk at Heron Arts, hosted by Colossal

Upcoming artist talk! If you missed the opening at Heron Arts, this will be a fun opportunity to come by the gallery and hear from a few of the artists, including Tiffanie Turner, Reina Takahashi, and myself. This panel discussion will be hosted by Grace Ebert, managing editor at Colossal.

Paper Show: Artist Talk
Tues, August 2, 5:30-7pm
Heron Arts: 7 Heron St, SF

Upcoming Gallery Show at Heron Arts

Come by Heron Arts in San Francisco on Saturday, July 9, 4-7pm! I’m part of a group show with a handful of incredible paper artists from all over the world. It’s a diverse group of folks, and the artwork I’ve seen looks amazing — Colossal recently published a little preview, if you’re curious to see. I’ll have three small paper sculptures, and some stop-motion videos. Event details here! Hope to see you there!

Upcoming Group Show: Garden Variety at Yonder Shop

My studio is having a group show on Friday, May 27th — come by Yonder Shop to see work from my talented ceramics studiomates, plus a paper sculpture piece and stop-motion video from me!

Yonder Shop Presents: Garden Variety
Friday, May 27th, 6pm
Yonder Shop: 701 11th Ave, SF
Masks required

Upcoming Talk at Letterform Archive

I’ll be speaking at Letterform Archive’s Salon Series next month about my alphabet installation, and you’re invited to tune in!

I’ll be discussing how I went about making each sculpture, the relationships between letterforms and sculptural elements, and how this project informed my subsequent work. I’ll share some behind-the-scenes photos, and do a paper folding demo.

This event will be open to the public and streamed online. Tickets are sliding scale $5-$20; no one turned away for lack of funds.

Salon Series 32: 36 Days of Type, Paper Sculpture Edition with Zai Divecha
Letterform Archive (Online Event)
Thu, May 26, 2022
12:00pm–1:30pm PT
Register here!

Besharam Dinner Recap

I loved every minute of last night’s Besharam dinner event at the Minnesota Street Project. La Cocina’s Geetika Agrawal led an intimate and thoughtful conversation about how Chef Heena and I each channel the “besharam” (shameless) spirit into our careers. We talked about family, how our shared Indian heritages play into our lives, and what kind of experience or message we’re trying to convey with our craft. It felt pretty neat to be up there next to these two incredible, trailblazing South Asian women.

We feasted on Chef Heena’s incredible Gujarati food—including samosas, dhokla, sev puri, and some of the best rasmalai I’ve ever had). I did a little paper-folding demo, and auctioned off two pieces to raise money for Pratham USA. And everyone took home a little handmade gift from me.

But the best part was that, because the event was capped at 30, I got meaningful time with everyone who attended! I loved getting to know all of the guests — it was such a fun mix of people in the food industry, writers, folks in the art world, collectors, and of course family (my parents!) and friends. Thank you all for appreciating Indian food and culture, and for supporting women of color who run their own businesses.

Besharam Dinner on February 26

On February 26th, Chef Heena Patel and I will be hosting a collaborative dinner at her Dogpatch restaurant, Besharam, which was recently named Restaurant of the Year by Eater. It will be a festive, fun evening — an exploration of the creative mediums of two Gujarati American women. This ticketed event includes cocktails, wine, appetizers, and dinner. Chef Heena and I will have a spirited conversation moderated by La Cocina’s Geetika Agrawal about our shared Gujarati heritage, and what inspires us in our respective mediums. I’ll do a live paper-folding demo, and there will be a silent auction for two of my pieces. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to Pratham, a highly-regarded Indian NGO that works in 21 of India's 29 states to promote literacy and education among children and youths. Lastly, each guest will get to take home a small sample of my work.

This intimate event will be capped at 30, so reserve your tickets ASAP!

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A Night of Art, Conversation and Food with Heena Patel and Zai Divecha

Join Chef Heena Patel and paper sculpture artist Zai Divecha for a night of conversation in Minnesota Street Project adjacent to Besharam. Geetika Agrawal, Project Director of Bay Area nonprofit La Cocina, will moderate a discussion about about their common Gujarati heritage, what inspires them, and how that reflects on their mediums of choice. Throughout the night, there will be wine, snacks, and dinner provided by Besharam, a paper-folding demonstration by Zai, and a silent auction for two of Zai's pieces. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to Pratham, a highly-regarded Indian NGO that works in 21 of India's 29 states to promote literacy and education among children and youths. Upon conclusion of the event, attendees will receive a sample of Zai's work to take home.

Heena Patel is Chef and owner of Dogpatch restaurant Besharam, which was recently named Best New Restaurant of the Year by SF Eater in 2019. Besharam means "shameless," which is a word often used to put women in their place. Throughout her female-led restaurant, Chef Heena reclaims that word and instead uses it to ask herself, what more can you do? If you're truly shameless, what else can you accomplish?

Zai Divecha is a San Francisco-based artist whose work provides a quiet, calm respite from an overstimulating world. By folding, pleating or rolling sheets of white paper, she creates intricate patterns of light and shadow. Divecha has shown at Marrow Gallery, West Coast Craft, and the American Craft Council; clients include Instagram, Twitter, and Square. Divecha is a Bay Area native and a Yale graduate, and she works out of a shared workshop in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco.

Wed, February 26, 2020
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM PST
Minnesota Street Project
1275 Minnesota Street, SF
Purchase tickets here