Odeta Xheka (Tschayka) is an artist, writer, curator, poet, and picture book creator whose work is shown nationally and internationally as well as published in literary and art magazines. She is currently working behind the scenes to launch OXH Gallery of Art conceptually and visually searching for new opportunities for communion around art to, ultimately, celebrate what makes us all human.

Born in Berat, Albania, currently she lives in Tampa, Florida after 4 years spent studying art in Athens, Greece and another 16 years in Brooklyn, New York. 

Through her art process, she aims to pin down and foreground those elements of one’s inner needs that are hard to hold on to yet of immense value when it comes to remembering what’s truly important, hoping when hope seems futile, dwelling in sorrow yet devoted to understanding (self) at a deep level in order to grow to   appreciate the fragile beauty of existence despite the inevitable hardships. The artist is searching for a kind of aggregate meaning, knowing that if she unravels it one work at a time, she can successfully position her art in the elusive space between the intellectual and the emotional, despite the fact that it might be unfashionable to think about beauty and emotions in art given the irony and sensationalism people have come to associate with the contemporary art scene.

* Note to Self

Making art can feel like an act of exposure. Don't allow yourself to be restraint by conventional expectations. But also remember that just because it is your own story, that doesn't entitle you to an audience. You have to earn that.