CAVERN OF COURIOSITIES

July 16 - August 14 . 2016

LEA ANDERSON

curated by

Aimee Gwynne Franklyn

Lea Anderson Cavern of Curiosities

Curated by Aimee Gwynne Franklyn

July 16— August 14, 2016

Can the volatile beauty of our planet contain us, or will we be extinguished by its inherent eccentricities? In Cavern of Curiosities, Albuquerque artist Lea Anderson creates living, philosophical worlds that echo the formal variations seen in natural systems. FUTUREFEELD, Anderson’s magnificent installation and the centerpiece of Cavern of Curiosities, is a whirling parallel universe, composed of hundreds of electrifying digital prints on formed acetate, with multiple inclusions of magnificently colored synthetic fibers. Anderson’s world is stirring and hypnotic, a threatening desert landscape, softened by opalescent entities, as if floating in a waking dream.

This ambivalent view of what lies ahead for us is manifested with piercing beauty. The collision of form and intent is inspiring, stunning and worrisome all at once. Cavern of Curiosities is an unabashedly unfiltered portrayal of our world and our future, in to which we are all accelerating, poorly equipped, but armed with an innate, organic and beautiful optimism.

Also included in Cavern of Curiosities, are newly commissioned three-dimensional works that expand on the concepts examined in FUTUREFEELD.

Lea Anderson, a San Diego native, has lived and worked in the New Mexico art community for over a decade, and has been greatly influenced by the dramatic, colorful, and wild desert environment. Fluent in both two-and three-dimensional visual languages, she traverses the intersections between the natural and philosophical worlds with expertise and fluidity. Anderson’s themes are explored through individual works, full-scale ambitious mixed media installations, and solo exhibitions using a wide variety of both digital and traditional media. She has exhibited throughout New Mexico and the United States, as well as internationally in Bangkok, Thailand in 2010. A recipient of numerous awards for her artwork, she was also awarded “Albuquerque Local Treasure” in 2010. In 2013, Anderson was the Guest Curator for the exhibition Flatlanders and Surface Dwellers at 516 ARTS in Albuquerque. She most recently created MERIDIAE, a monumental installation piece for the Atrium windows of the Albuquerque Museum as their 2015 Summer Artist-in-Residence. Cavern of Curiosities is Anderson’s second solo exhibition in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Anderson received two BAs from San Diego State University in painting, printmaking, ceramics, art history and Applied Design. She was awarded her MFA from University of New Mexico Albuquerque (with Honors), in painting and drawing.

See Lea Anderson discuss her work on ¡COLORES! here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-DABKSySqg