Artist Statement
Rooted in the ethos of Arte Povera and the principles of wabi-sabi and Ma, my practice moves between creation and destruction.
Materials reveal their truths as they fracture, burn, and fade. Torn fibers, charred marks, and voids do not decorate—they testify.
My work integrates personal loss with collective memory, deeply driven by the enforced disappearance of my father during Argentina’s military dictatorship. I use marks inspired by ancient Oracle Bone script and altered calligraphy as traces of lost messages—fragments that resonate with history and absence. Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s concept of painting as "Poesia muta", I explore the evocative power of raw materials: mulberry paper, bamboo, pumice, fibers, natural pigments, and tar, through fire, tearing, décollage, and shodō interventions. The result is a tactile landscape: a poetic architecture of silences, scars, and presences where absence becomes a tangible entity.
Biography:
Gaby Oshiro is a visual artist based in Colorado Springs. Born in Buenos Aires, she is the daughter of Beba Bresolin—photographer, pianist, and founder of the group Familiares de Desaparecidos de la Colectividad Japonesa, and Oscar Takashi Oshiro, a labor lawyer who defended factory workers before becoming a desaparecido during Argentina’s military dictatorship.
She was trained in Italy at the Liceo Artistico Statale di Treviso and in Argentina under Guggenheim Fellow Carlos Gorriarena.
Her major research project, Kintsugi, examines the legacy of the disappeared through site-specific installations. The project debuted at the Espacio Cultural de la Biblioteca del Congreso de la Nación in Argentina (Kintsugi I). It later evolved into Kintsugi Part II: The Presence of Your Absence, an installation featuring portraits on chairs, which was presented at the Galleria dell'Artistico in Italy and the CMA Centro Municipal de Arte Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Most recently, Oshiro was the Featured Artist for the Denver Art Museum's Dream Studio (2024–2025), where she produced two installations and a modular origami sculpture.
EDUCATION
Mentorship: Atelier of Carlos Gorriarena (Guggenheim Fellow), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Ernesto de la Cárcova, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Liceo Artistico Statale di Treviso, Italy (Fine Arts/Architecture), 1986-1991.
Universidad de Palermo, Buenos Aires (Graphic Design), 1993-1995.
RESIDENCIES & PUBLIC PROJECTS
2024–2025: Denver Art Museum, Featured Artist (Dream Studio), Hamilton Building.
Six-month engagement featuring two site-specific installations and a mega-origami lotus.
2022: Pikes Peak Library District, Artist in Residence (Maker in Residence).
Created a 10ft x 4ft community-collaborative modular origami mulberry paper sculpture.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (Selected)
2026 Carbondale Arts.(Upcoming) April 17 - May 21
2026 (Upcoming): Kintsugi-Traces of You, Universidad Nacional Arturo Jauretche (UNAJ), Buenos Aires.
2025: Material Haiku, Manitou Art Center (Hagnauer Gallery), Colorado. Curated by Germano Dalla Pola.
2024: Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO.
2024: Material Haiku, Surface Gallery, Old Colorado City, CO.
2024: Solo Exhibition, Auric Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO.
2019: Kintsugi Part II: The Presence of Your Absence, CMA Centro Municipal de Arte, Avellaneda, Buenos Aires.
2018–2019: Kintsugi Part II: The Presence of Your Absence, Galleria Dell’Artistico, Treviso, Italy.
2016: Kintsugi I, Espacio Cultural Biblioteca del Congreso de la Nación (National Library of Congress), Buenos Aires.
2010: Solo Exhibition, Antlers Hilton Hotel (World Aquatic Health Conference), Colorado Springs, CO.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (Selected)
2026 Colorado Dragon Boat Film Festival, March 2026 (deco-boco)
15th Annual Carbondale Fashion Show: Step Right Up March 12-14, 2026 (deco-boco)
2025–2026: Stories We Share, Tales, Myths and Traditions. The Collective, Lafayette Arts & Cultural Resources Department, CO.
2025: Ensō Collection, 14th Annual Carbondale Fashion Show, CO. (deco-boco)
2025: House of GOCA: Psychedelic Garden, UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art, Colorado Springs, CO. (deco-boco)
2024: Absolute Immunity, Emmanuel Art Gallery (alongside Shepard Fairey), University of Colorado Denver.
2024 -ARTcade, curated by the Denver Theatre District.
2020: Artists Respond to Kintsugi, Japanese Arts Network, Denver, CO.
2017: Bienal Sur (Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de América del Sur). Project Pre-selected (Shortlist).
AWARDS & HONORS
2025: People’s Choice Award (Avant-Garde Fashion), House of GOCA, UCCS Ent Center for the Arts.
2025: People's Choice Award (Maximalism), Denver Fashion Week.
2019: Career Advancement Grant, Colorado Creative Industries.
2017: Finalist, Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, Denver, CO.
2017: Shortlisted, Bienal Sur (Selected 324 from 2,543 international applicants).
COLLECTIONS
Pioneer Museum, Colorado Springs, CO (Permanent Collection, Acquired 2025).
SELECTED WRITINGS & PUBLICATIONS
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2016: 17 No Sabian Que Somos Semillas- Los 17 Desaparecidos de la Colectividad Japonesa en la Argentina by Andrés Asato.
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Co-Author: Wrote the historical chapter "Con Alma Tanguera" regarding the enforced disappearance of Oscar Takashi Oshiro.
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2010–Present: Discover Nikkei (Japanese American National Museum).
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Contributing Writer: Authored multiple essays on Nikkei identity, Latin American history, and art.
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2017–2018: Revista La Roca.
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Author: Series of articles on contemporary art practice and cultural memory (Italian/Spanish editions).
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Biografia (Italiano):
Gaby Oshiro è nata a Buenos Aires. Nel 1986 si è trasferita in Italia, terra natale della madre.
Ha studiato al Liceo Artistico Statale di Treviso. Dopo il diploma (1990) ha lavorato nel il laboratorio fotografico di sua madre. Nel 1993 si trasferisce a BuenosAires dove frequenta l’Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Ernesto de la Cárcova e l’Universidad de Palermo.
All’Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Ernesto de la Cárcova ha frequentato i corsi del pittore argentino Carlos Gorriarena allievo di Lucio Fontana e Guggenheim fellow; inoltre da Gorriarena riceve l’invito ad approfondire la sua ricerca assieme ad un gruppo di allievi nel suo atelier.
Nel 1997 ritorna il Italia, dove collabora per alcuni anni con lo scultore Valeriode Marchi; inoltre forma gli Oshiro band dove suona e compone insieme al chitarrista Stefano Silenzi.
Nel 2001 si trasferisce negli Stati Uniti, dove tutt’oggi vive con marito e figli ed esercita la sua attività artistica.
Sitografia:
http://goshiro.wixsite.com/goshiro
http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/author/ oshiro-gaby/