Dallas College

Luminous Thread, Earthly Echoes by Daniela María Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas and Sharmeen Uqaili Exhibit Opening Day

  • Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026
  • 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

       
  • Brookhaven Campus
    3939 Valley View Lane, Farmers Branch TX 75244

The gallery program at Dallas College is excited to present Luminous Threads, Earthly Echoes a two-person exhibition by Daniela María Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas and Sharmeen Uqaili in the Forum Gallery at Brookhaven Campus. Centered around their experience as immigrants, Daniela, from Colombia, and Sharmeen, from Pakistan, both artists aim to create work that strengthens and preserves their memories and traditions from home. Their works not only serve as reminders of their homelands but speak to a broader theme of human migration, connection, and tradition.
From Daniela María Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas: “As a Colombian, feeling displaced goes hand in hand with longing for home. Similar climates and languages are empty placeholders for familial ties and a country left behind. Like deep digging roots, gripping heavily to the nurturing soil below, there is an intimate drive to hold on to that which is precious. Without a steady and nourishing connection, even a luminous tether to that precious home, identity will wither and fade. I find this tether through the natural world; nature does not doubt its roots, nor its motherland. It knows exactly where it came from. Hence, my sculptures are based on Colombian flora, and my technique and materials are bound to my heritage.
"Longing for home also offers a connection to others; longing is not limited to a nationality nor a geographical border, rather it is a universal experience repeated and shared by both the human and the natural world. My earthly sculptures, originating from my immigrant experience, offer echoes of my country and culture, but they are not limited to my history nor are they isolating. In their repetition, these longings connect the individual to the collective. As we do not long alone, we are therefore not alone.”
From Sharmeen Uqaili, Dallas College alumna and current artist at our Hilton Anatole residency space: Luminous Thread, Earthly Echoes is shaped from my experience of living in Pakistan and the United States, carrying two worlds that shape me in different ways. In this body of work, I follow a luminous thread, which is my connection to the sacred, to the visual language of my childhood, and to the cultural memory that continues to guide me. This thread appears in the illuminating colors, repeating patterns, and celestial spaces I create, all inspired by the spiritual teachings and aesthetics that filled my early life. The earthly echoes in my paintings appear through fragments of worldly objects—hands, feet, and time pieces—that ground the celestial realms in the physical world.
"These elements show that the sacred and the ordinary are deeply connected, woven together in meaningful ways. Using shaped wood panels, gouache, and ink, I construct layered scenes that feel both intimate and expansive. I break apart traditional motifs and rearrange them, allowing light, movement, and openness to emerge. This process helps me carry my culture forward, allowing it to grow and change while preserving the spirit. Through art, I create a place where memory, spirituality, and lived experience meet, a place where my heritage remains luminous, and its echoes continue to shape my present.”
Join the gallery team in the North Lake Art Gallery on Wednesday, February 5th from 12-2pm for a reception and brief artist talk from Daniela María Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas and Sharmeen Uqaili.
The exhibition opens on Monday, January 20th, and will be on view through Friday, February 27th. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, please contact: galleries@dallascollege.edu
Location: Brookhaven Campus, Bldg. F, Room F102 (Forum Gallery)

  • Arts and Culture

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