“Held in Tension, Birthed in Pressure” Exhibition at PCC

Pasadena City College (Photo – pasadena.edu)

The Galleries at Pasadena City College present Held in Tension, Birthed in Pressure, a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Joseph DeSiervi.

By News Desk

Part of the college’s Genetically Modified exhibition series, this sculptural work delves into the unseen forces that shape our physical, emotional, and spiritual realities. Through materials like brass, gold, yarn, and tree branches, DeSiervi creates forms that exist on the brink of collapse and transformation. Fingerprints are embedded in the metal—subtle imprints of touch and negotiation, representing a dialogue between artist and material. These works are not polished conclusions, but thresholds: objects caught in moments of tension, reverence, and release.

The sculptures are held, not repaired. Their forms resist resolution, instead inviting reflection. Titles like Ritual Fold, Rupture Seeking Rest, and Soft Return emphasize the sacredness of process, the physicality of pressure, and the emergence of form not through force, but presence. The suspended works balance delicately in space, while the rotating triptych Echoes of the Unnamed evokes fragmentation, breath, and multiplicity.

DeSiervi’s work is devotional—honoring transformation as a continual act, not a singular moment. These pieces trace the memory of the body rather than transcend it, asking to be witnessed rather than explained.

The exhibition will be on view through April 4, with gallery hours Monday – Friday from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm.

Joseph DeSiervi is a sculptor and spatial thinker whose work is shaped by lived tension, sacred ritual, and the unseen energies that move through body and matter. Informed by personal experiences of physical trauma, queerness, and spiritual inquiry, DeSiervi’s practice positions transformation as a sacred act. Their sculptures serve as sites of witnessing—unresolved, honest, and alive.