BOULDER, Colo. (April 22, 2010)—Naropa University is proud to host group exhibition presenting artwork by Brandilyn Brierley, Erica Laley, Jennifur Lord, and Katherine Smith, all graduating seniors in the Visual Arts Department. “Bodily Nectar and Aberrant Explorations” runs from April 20–May 7, 2010. The Nalanda Gallery will host a closing reception Friday, May 7 from 5:30–7:30pm, which is free and open to the public. Both the exhibit and the reception will be held in the Nalanda Gallery, 6287 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO 80303. For more information, contact Chair of Visual Arts Department Sue Hammond West at suewest@naropa.edu or 303-546-3585.

Each artist works in a diverse range of media, covering the spectrum of traditional materials—oil, acrylic, and/or watercolor. Brierley and Lord make use of non-traditional materials, such as thread, mica, seaweed, tea, among other media. All works hover around the theme of “Bodily Nectar and Aberrant Explorations,” eliciting notions of femininity, the strange, beauty, and the dark places.

Brandilyn Brierley presents work from her series “Pollination,” which explores the strength of femininity and nature. She works with acrylic paint on canvas, while integrating a wide spectrum of materials to create texture, exploring such delicate substances as mica, oil pastels, nail polish, lipstick, algae, gold leaf, felt and bee pollen. Brierley says, “My art is kinesthetic and sensual because of the vulnerability that comes with honest and open expression of my heart.”

Erica Laley works with acrylic and watercolor, using the media to depict hybrid women. “My paintings convey the possibilities of a woman exploring her animalistic nature, connecting innocence and instinct,” Laley states. In order to evoke a sense of nostalgia and to provide a sense of context, Laley will present her oval canvases surrounded by a Victorian setting of furniture and decor.

Jennifur Lord will present a site-specific installation using hand-printed mixed media images on paper and various sculptural methods, altering the space to reflect the female fertility cycle. Circling around primordial archetypes, buried wisdom, Earthly delight, decadence, ardency, and decay, Lord works with imagery combining Victorian lace patterns and archaic motifs exalting the physical persistence of time.

Katherine Smith’s work speaks to the point in which fantasy and reality meet. She depicts, through oil paint, the interplay between “abnormalities or things that people tend to shy away from, along with elegance, femininity, and beauty.” Smith attempts to ease the shock of her shadowy subject matter through precise technique and aesthetic renderings.

Naropa University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education. This approach to learning integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, helping students know themselves more deeply and engage constructively with others. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental leadership, psychology and religious studies.

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