Thresholds of Transformation: A Review of The InBetweenness

The Inbetweenness at UTSA’s Russell Hill Rogers Galleries immerses viewers in the complexities of transition - whether personal, spatial, or temporal.  The space physically presents a challenge to curators, however, curator Marisa Sage approached this exhibition with striking precision. She carefully structured the space so that each of the six artists occupies a distinct section. Walking through the gallery felt like stepping into individual episodes of The Twilight Zone, each door opening to a world of its own. 

Installation view of Josie Norris’ “The Sun & The Run & The Appleseed” (2023-2025) at UTSA’s Russell Roger Hills Galleries. Image courtesy of Kat Deck-Portillo.

Josie Norris’ wall of photographs transports me to my teenage bedroom in late 2000s Ohio. A landscape of white barns and farmhouses with open country roads surrounded by fields from various times of the day situates me within the Midwest. I’m at home with  family in the interior spaces, which are filled with the doily and floral patterned textiles, and a deep brown lazy-e boy chair. I’m with my family, but I’m not my authentic self. The heteronormativity of this world is stifling. Enlarged photographs framed in crochet disrupts and affirms queerness within this landscape. Norris sits at a vanity in two of these images, challenging notions of gender like Claude Cahun’s 1920s self-portraits. The interplay between nostalgia and constraint underscores the tension between belonging and self-expression - emphasizing a space where it remains in flux. Norris’ photographs weave queerness into the fabric of a familiar, yet stifling, world, mirroring the tension of inhabiting both past and present selves. 

Installation view of Gabi Magaly’s “Dear Frank” series (2025). Image courtesy of Kat Deck-Portillo. 

This sense of liminality carries into Gabi Magaly’s portraits, where personal and familial ties are reexamined in the wake of a longer-term relationship’s end. Many of these photographs are paired with hand-written text on lined paper. It’s almost as if they were ripped out and directly shared from the journal on the desk in front of her works. A simple wood desk, pencil, and metal chair invite viewers to sit, with instructions to share their own thoughts and experiences about their own past relationships. By inviting viewers to sit, write, and reflect, Magaly transforms personal heart back into a communal act of remembrance and catharsis. Her work suspends us in the threshold between past and future, urging us to confront the weight of our own emotional landscapes before stepping forward. 

Installation view of Huakai Chen’s “The Spectacles of Collective” series (2025). Image courtesy of Kat Deck-Portillo. 

Peace settles over me as I experience Huakai Chen’s The Spectacles of Collective. Five panels are spaced solely against the wall, the distance between them reflecting the change of hour, season, and location though connected by the gold lines running vertically and horizontally through at different sections to mimic the metal bars of a window. Three of the four compositions are filled with soft, slight abstracted trees and greenery that fill the frame. One has the roof peeking out on the lower left frame, birds soaring and scattering in the clear sky. The center painting has the metal frames meeting in the top middle, forming a cross that is disrupted by a ball of light with moths floating around. Chen’s work evokes the quiet contemplation of gazing through a window — where time, geography, and memory dissolve into a longing for what lies beyond. His five panels, spaced deliberately apart, marks shifts in time and place, with the gold bars framing ephemeral moments of nature and solitude. 

With nuanced intentions and various materials, The Inbetweenness transforms UTSA’s Russell Hill Rogers Galleries into a threshold — where identity, memory, and change are suspended in a moment of transition. It is a space of uncertainty, yet one rich with possibility - a liminal world where the past lingers, the future beckons, and we are left to navigate the in-between. 

The In Betweenness is on view at UTSA Southwest Campus’ Russell Hill Rogers Galleries until April 12, 2025. Gallery hours are Thursdays through Saturdays from 12PM - 5PM or by appointment.