Central Campus Gallery opens "Time Loop"
A site-specific project investigating material cycles and the value of time
The San Jacinto College Central Campus Gallery presents "Time Loop", a solo exhibition by Carolina Borja, on view from Wednesday, Jan. 28 through Friday, Feb. 27. Bringing together sculpture, drawing and video, the exhibition is a site- specific project that treats the college campus as an active laboratory for observation and inquiry.
In “Time Loop”, Borja examines how materials circulate through institutional spaces, specifically how assets move through buildings, are disposed of and transition from one phase of use to another, before being reabsorbed into local systems. By closely observing these cycles, the artist foregrounds the unseen rhythms of consumption and transformation embedded in everyday environments.
As part of the project, Borja will collaborate directly with staff and faculty to collect materials that become the foundation for the exhibition’s sculptural installations. These works function as material timekeepers, recording patterns of use, discard, and reuse within a defined period. Rather than advancing a strictly environmental position, “Time Loop” proposes a temporal inquiry, an exploration of how humans measure, assign, and perceive the value of time.
“This exhibition allows students to see how the college campus is a living system constantly circulating objects they are already familiar with” said Carmen Champion, gallery curator. “The idea is to recognize their own presence within larger systems of time, labor and use.”
About the Artist:
Carolina Borja studied industrial design with a minor in Mexican folk art, a foundation that informs her interdisciplinary practice. Her work blends industrial and handmade materials to reflect on themes of urban mobility, growth, and cross-cultural exchange.
Her recent public art commissions include projects for the City of Sugar Land, the Alley Theatre, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She has been the recipient of various grants from the City of Houston and Forecast Public Art. Her collaborative project Constructing on Deconstructing, created with artist Amy Toscani, received the ArtPrize Pitch Night award at the Walker Art Center and was later exhibited at ArtPrize7, where it was shortlisted for the jurors' picks.
Beyond her studio practice, Borja engages through administrative roles with arts organizations, and she is an active member of the Houston-based artist collective, Throughline.
For more information, contact Carmen Champion at centralgallery@sjcd.edu or 832-279-6229.
Location:
Central Campus Gallery, Davis Library (C21.163)
8060 Spencer Hwy., Pasadena, Texas
Date:
Wednesday, Jan. 28 through Friday, Feb. 27
Reception and Artist Talk:
Wednesday, Feb. 4
11 a.m. – 3 p.m. with artist talk at 12 p.m.
Panel Discussion:
Objects in Motion: Labor, Time, and the Life of Materials
Wednesday, Feb. 11
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Participants:
- David Sample, facilities operations manager
- Michael Smith, economics professor
- Carolina Borja, artist
- Moderator: Carmen Champion, art history professor/gallery curator
About San Jacinto College
Surrounded by monuments of history, evolving industries, maritime enterprises of today,
and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the people of East Harris
County, Texas, since 1961. The College is ranked second in the nation among more than
1,100 community colleges, as designated by the Aspen Institute and was named an Achieving
the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution
that spans five campuses, plus an online college, San Jacinto College serves approximately
45,000 credit and non-credit students annually. It offers more than 200 degrees and
certificates across eight major areas of study that put students on a path to transfer
to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. The College is fiscally sound, holding
bond ratings of AA+ by Standard & Poor’s and Aa2 by Moody’s. San Jacinto College is
accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
