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These walls contain the evidence of generations of spills courtesy of the clumsy, open hands that balance cigarettes between the fingers. The choreography of this space is witnessed only by the host, the servers, and the father, who understand the way the hidden swinging door operates as a portal between worlds, a brief slice of fluorescent light that cuts through the ambiance. This place is a shell–a plush facade that dampens the metallic sound of glasses clinking and cackling laughter. You can see a figure at the end of the room. His form is made by pouring into a cloth container and peeling the cloth away, revealing a flesh imprinted with the memory of its shell, now expanded to the scale of the entire room. He is a calculated observer. He offers food in the round, which you, the guest, are welcome to eat.

Gabrielle Constantine (1994) was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she received her double BFA in Sculpture and Fibers and Material studies at the Tyler School of Art (2017). She’s currently living and working in Austin, TX pursuing an MFA at The University of Texas of Austin. Having grown up in an Armenian community, Constantine draws from displaced communities reestablishing culture in America. The influence of growing up and working in the restaurant industry has always been a big part of how she navigates through the world and especially an art practice. In her youth, Constantine had every intention to attend culinary school but ended up pursuing an art degree instead. In 2017 she co-founded a series called Supper Club in collaboration with Reading Terminal Market. A collection of alternative art shows that showcased narratives of vendors in the market, such as butcher shops, spice stores, and fruit stands. Supper Club was her introduction to collaboration, along with layering food and art practices. Through time she’s consistently worked this way in conjunction with her studio practice. Since coming to Austin she has hosted local gallerists, writers, and artists to share dinner with grad students through prompt-based meals and continues to innovate ways of gathering community through art and food.

Emily Lee (1996) is a Chinese-American artist, writer, and organizer from the Texas Gulf Coast. Lee received a BFA in Studio Art, a BA with special honors in Art History, and a certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Lee has shown their work in Texas and New York, and their writing has been published by French & Michigan and Southwest Contemporary. In 2021, they founded All the Sudden, a neighborhood project space dedicated to fostering context-specific exhibits and economic self-sufficiency for artists of all disciplines, which earned a Critic’s Pick Award in the Austin Chronicle. They are the recipient of the Roy Crane Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts Grant, The Rhodes Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Art, and Future Front TX’s Microgrant.