DORF Presents Infernal Rebirth into Hell: Illusions and Realities
A Solo Presentation of New Work by Intel Lastierre, Inaugural Fellowship in Professional Practice (FiPP) artist.
This timely exhibition challenges the myth of the American Dream by highlighting the lived experiences of Filipino immigrants, revealing how promises of opportunity, safety, and freedom often give way to struggles shaped by exclusion, surveillance, exploitation, and systemic inequality.
Intel Lastierre, Devouring the Dream, 2025, air dry clay, synthetic teeth, U.S passport prop, acrylic paint and transparent suitcase, 12” x 12” x 4 ½”, image courtesy of the artist and DORF.
“Like prisoners chained in darkness, many immigrants face illusions that become their entire reality, only to discover that the “light” outside is sometimes another form of confinement.”
This project has been financed in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program.
This program is supported in part by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, City of Austin Economic Development Department, and Mid-America Arts Alliance.
Opening Reception:
Friday, September 26, 2025 | 6-10 pm
Exhibition Dates:
September 26 – January 31, 2026
Location:
DORF at Zilker Point, 218 South Lamar Blvd., Suite 140, Austin, TX 78704
Open Saturdays:
12:00–5:00 PM
DORF is proud to present Infernal Rebirth into Hell: Illusions and Realities, a solo exhibition by inaugural DORF Fellowship in Professional Practice artist Intel Lastierre that reimagines Plato’s Allegory of the Cave as a lens into the complex, often painful journey of Filipino immigrants pursuing the American Dream.
Through large-scale paintings, sculptures, and immersive installations, Lastierre explores this paradoxical descent, revealing how dreams of opportunity are often met with persistent structures of poverty, labor exploitation, racial discrimination, and inequality.
At the heart of the exhibition is Balikbayan: Boxes of Longing, a monumental installation of sixteen stacked balikbayan boxes—containers traditionally used by overseas Filipino workers to send goods home to their families. Inspired by Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa, the work becomes a powerful collective portrait of diaspora, survival, and the entrapment of immigrant lives within global systems of capitalism, migration, and displacement.
Infernal Rebirth into Hell also examines the dual role of resilience in Filipino culture. While resilience has sustained survival, it can also suppress resistance and uphold the very systems that cause suffering. Rather than offering easy answers, the exhibition raises urgent questions: What illusions have we mistaken for truth? Whose dreams are celebrated, and whose pain is overlooked? What kind of future are we creating together?
“Infernal Rebirth into Hell reveals the imperial impossibility of the immigrant experience. In the midst of oppressive governments both here and at home, Lastierre’s work represents those who reject the capacity to suffer as a solution for systemic exploitation.”
–Regine Malibiran, inaugural DORF Curatorial Fellow
Auxiliary Programming:
Participating Artists:
Barndogz, Steef Crombach, Armando De Lara, Michael Guerra Foerster, Megan Hildebrandt, Jules Buck Jones, Calder Kamin, Victor Lee, Stephen Longoria, Rebecca Marino, Eric Manche, Daniela Oliver, Chloe (CJ) Schemidt, Jessie Steinberg, Hiromi Stringer, Sara Vanderbeek, Katherine Vaughn, Jean-Pierre Verdijo, Dylan Warren, Alyssa Taylor Wendt, and Shelley Wood.
Youth Artists:
A special section of the exhibition features works by students, friends, and family of Sunset Valley Elementary, who were invited to contribute art inspired by the dogs in their lives. DORF extends special thanks to the families and educators who made this collaboration possible.
Hazel Bloomfield, Caroline Cerny, Julian Clements, Minerva Dever, Max Devlin, Lane Dickson, Tatianna Drake, Sophia England, Perla Erven, Isabel Feliz, Cricket Furey-Marquess, Rooster Furey-Marquess, Ernie Hildebrandt-Abrami, June Hildebrandt-Abrami, Sammy Macioge, Florida Manche, Luna Noell, Charlie Phillips, Elliot Phillips, Emiliano Portillo, Rodrigo Portillo, and Felicity Smith.
Opening Event Highlights:
🐕🦺 Puppy and dog adoptions with the Austin Humane Society
🖌 Live dog portrait painting by Ami Plasse
🎧 Doggy dance party with DJ Dana Scully (Queer Vinyl Collective)
🐾 Leashed, friendly pups welcome!
Opening Reception Views:
Photos by Colette Presley-Belloni
Pet Policy:
The Dog Days exhibition and opening reception are pet-friendly. All socialized, well-behaved, and potty-trained dogs are welcome—as long as they remain leashed at all times.
Parking:
Paid parking is available in the Zilker Point garage (entrance on Toomey Road) at $5/hour (max $30). Additional public paid parking is available along Toomey Road west of the building.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project has been financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program
Special thanks to our community partners: the Austin Humane Society and Sunset Valley Elementary.
ABOUT LU
𝘿𝙤𝙜 𝘿𝙖𝙮𝙨 is inspired by the life and love of a very good dog—Lu—who spent 14 years as a best friend, protector, and muse to Sara and Eric, and many others! Lu’s story is one of love, loss, and transformation—of being rescued and rescuing in return. This exhibition carries that spirit forward, honoring the dogs who have walked beside us, and the ways they remain with us always.
ABOUT DORF
DORF was founded in 2018 with a mission to build a village of artists, advocates, and innovators. DORF’s values of openness, intention, expression, and community have guided its programming, which includes exhibitions that tackle social justice, amplify marginalized voices, and foster meaningful dialogues.
DORF is committed to fostering equity and innovation in the arts. By supporting artists who are at risk of cultural erasure or displacement, DORF aims to shift the balance of representation within art institutions, offering resources and platforms to those historically marginalized.
We have received recognition in publications like Texas Monthly, Sightlines Magazine, The Austin Chronicle, Glasstire, Southwest Contemporary, and more, and received “Best New Experimental Art Gallery” in The Austin Chronicle.