Presentiment: New Visual Arts Exhibit at the Dairy Arts Center

Presentiment showcases the work of four artists all separately and collectively using their practice as a means to process the internal turmoil that teems within the human experience. A balance of intuition, connection to personal emotional terrain, and the desire to traverse an unknown landscape permeates the work on view throughout the exhibition. From large-scale explorations of grief that manifest in gorgeous Wildernesses to small-scale interactions between pattern and material, all artists on view tap into their inner selves as a way to create a connection to the outer. 

The works on view create a dialogue with the viewer as well: luring them in with lush color palettes, rich text, and raw material, while simultaneously engaging and reciprocating the energy that radiates from the human body, allowing the work to almost vibrate in relation to the viewer. The imbued spirit of the artist sings through the works as the viewer can see evidence of fighting through deep thought processes and arriving at a visual conclusion, or perhaps another question. The images and objects presented invite you to sit longer, to engage further within yourself, and to leave the gallery with a hopeful lift of spirit. 

Presentiment includes works from Emily McIlroy (Honolulu, HI), Paula Gasparini-Santos (Longmont, CO), Sarah Darlene Palmeri (Denver, CO), and Alli Lemon (Boulder, CO). 

Emily McIlroy was born and raised in Norman, Oklahoma. She received her BA in Studio Art from the University of Arizona in 2005 and her MFA in Drawing and Painting from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in 2011. When she’s not in her studio, Emily enjoys reading, writing, walking, and swimming her way through various terrestrial and aquatic wildernesses. She currently teaches drawing and painting at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. 

Paula Gasparini-Santos is an immigrant artist born in Brazil. She earned her MA in clinical mental health and art therapy from Naropa University. Her artwork brings together creativity, poetry, and psychological research and acts as a tool for social justice, personal development, and community engagement. In her paintings, words blend into colorful backgrounds evoking universal messages about humanity and self-awareness as well as philosophies about life, love, and faith. Santos believes art is a platform for dialogue and invites us to look deeper, ask questions, and find comfort within the narrated experiences of life. Her bright and visually satisfying palettes stand out on walls and draw attention, as the words ask viewers to consider their experiences and how they resonate with what is displayed. If she wants her creativity to achieve anything, it is to invite curiosity—to make us avidly curious about the workings of life, from the global to the intimately personal.

Visual artist Sarah Darlene Palmeri explores the functionality of abstraction through a feminine, queer, and contemporary perspective. Her work investigates the intersections of painting, social practice, and meditation and their collective ability to promote self-reflection, cathartic healing, and true social change. Palmeri holds a BFA in Painting and Drawing from Louisiana State University, and an Executive Certificate of Nonprofit Management from the University of Notre Dame. She has been a member of Strangers Art Collective since 2015 and is a current Artist in Residence at RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Denver. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and Iceland.

Alli Lemon is a Memphis-born, Colorado-based artist. She received her BFA from the University of Memphis and, in 2015, she was a fellow at the Yale Summer School at Norfolk. She is currently finishing an MFA at the University of Colorado, Boulder, with an emphasis on painting and drawing. An immersion in the worlds of ceramics and the philosophy of science, disciplines for which CU is highly regarded, shifted her interests greatly. Leaving behind the 2-dimensional, her work weaves together drawings with found objects, fibers, and ceramics to create the artifacts for a “cult of one” she calls Cosmostology. Lemon says Cosmostology is a method of connecting the disparate parts of oneself and reconciling conflicting understandings of the self and the universe. Collage—of both images, objects, and philosophies—is a natural method for this practice because collage is a space where we are quick to accept dichotomies and juxtapositions, which are at the heart of each individual and the universe at large.

Presentiment will open on Friday, March 4th, starting at 5:00 pm. At 6:00 pm a brief introduction and discussion of the works on view will be made. The reception is an opportunity to meet and mingle with the artists and curators. Enjoy live music and refreshments available for purchase. All receptions are free and open to the public.