PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Lisa Heikka-Huber

Graduate Teaching Associate at San Jose State University

lisa@lisaheikka-huber.com  https://www.lisaheikka-huber.com/

Jo Farb Gallery Presents

Threshold

An MFA Thesis Installation by Lisa Heikka-Huber

April 28 – May 2, 2025

Artist Jo Farb Gallery, San Jose State University, Downtown San Jose, CA

San Jose, CA – Threshold, an immersive trans-disciplinary installation by MFA candidate Lisa Heikka-Huber, opens at the Jo Farb Gallery at San Jose State University from April 28 through May 2, 2025, with an artist talk at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, April 30.

Blending firsthand underwater documentation, fabricated sculptural environments, and collaborative ceramic work, Threshold submerges viewers into the ecological devastation unfolding along the Mendocino coastline. Using her background as an AAUS-certified scientific diver, Heikka-Huber captures haunting dive footage of Northern California’s purple urchin barrens—once thriving kelp forests that have now been reduced to underwater deserts due to the explosion of native urchins following the loss of their natural predator, the Sunflower Sea Star.

The installation re-creates this altered habitat through sculpted ocean rocks and ceramic urchins. Each urchin is built from spines made by high school students during artist-led outreach workshops at Fremont, Homestead, and Lynbrook High Schools in Santa Clara County. The resulting environment is both immersive and collaborative, bringing attention to the cascading impacts of marine degradation while also highlighting the power of collective, community-based art.

“This exhibition is a window to the forest fire raging beneath the waves,” says Heikka-Huber. “Fueled not by flame, but by hunger—by the purple urchins that have taken over. Through this work, I invite viewers to cross the threshold into that submerged world, to witness and imagine how we might restore what remains.”

Threshold explores the intersection of environmental science, material storytelling, and community engagement. It is a tribute to the resilience of ocean ecosystems and to the shared responsibility of conservation—an invitation to feel the urgency beneath the surface and stand in solidarity with the sea.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to the many students, teachers, mentors, and collaborators who helped bring this work to life.

EXHIBITION DETAILS

Title: Threshold

Artist: Lisa Heikka-Huber

Location: Jo Farb Gallery, San Jose State University

Exhibition Dates: April 28 – May 2, 2025

Artist Talk: Wednesday, April 30, 7:30 PM

Admission: Free and open to the public

For press inquiries, interviews, or high-resolution images, please contact:

 Lisa Heikka-Huber at lisa@lisaheikka-huber.com

Follow the project on Instagram: 

@lisaspiecesglass @politicaljeweler