MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Los Angeles-based artist Sara Bright will bring artwork to her home state for the first time with an exhibition and Visiting Artist Lecture at West Virginia University.

The lecture will be in the Davis Theatre on opening night, Oct. 11 at 5 p.m. Source is hosted by the Mesaros Galleries in WVU’s School of Art and Design and the exhibition will run through Nov. 9.

“I called the show Source, and I thought a lot about getting to the root of something very deep—going to the source, going to my source,” Bright said. “My upbringing in West Virginia has an enormous influence on my work. I felt that loyalty so strongly when I left the state—which I suppose often happens—you leave a place only to realize even more strongly how that place is within you, how it defines you.”

A Summersville native, Bright earned her MFA from University of California, Berkeley and her BA in studio art and English literature from Wesleyan University. She has shown widely, and her work has been written about in numerous publications including Artforum and Art Ltd. She has been an artist-in-residence at Anderson Ranch, Watershed Center for Ceramics and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

Her practice is rooted in the elemental, and she works primarily with mediums that utilize materials drawn directly from the earth—fresco and ceramic, both reactive and time sensitive. Her work centers around investigating the sculptural painting through the brushstroke and its ability to communicate energy moving through space.

Bright has a background that includes practicing Chinese calligraphy and playing traditional music on the banjo. She is also a co-founder of the independent music label, Cosmic Dreamer Music.

“I want my work to affect people emotionally,” Bright said. “I don’t know that I could say exactly how—it’s a poetic way of communicating to be working abstractly—but I hope they feel something. I’d love to hear what comes up for people who visit the show.”

The Mesaros Galleries are located in WVU’s Creative Arts Center on the Evansdale campus. The space provides WVU’s School of Art & Design the ability to enhance student education by bringing professional artists to campus and giving students a place to exhibit their artwork. The Mesaros Galleries are open noon – 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday.