Location: Bridge Gallery

After years of providing trauma-informed care to survivors in crisis, Samantha Lesan realized that art making was therapeutic to both herself and others and found a lot of neuroscience to back it up. In addition to creating expressive, intuitive art for her personal benefit, she facilitates Art for Healing Workshops in the community and online. These guided artmaking and journaling practices serve to promote emotional resilience after hardship (open to anyone, no art experience necessary). The positive response to these classes has been overwhelming.

 About The BitterSweet Exhibit

Lesan says “Intuitive abstract art represents a wonderful visual language to process and express emotions beyond words. The colors and images in my mind are often influenced by nature and emotion. I tend to use earthy, gritty organic mixed media to communicate the emotional bittersweetness of life. Earthy turmeric, paprika and natural amber shellac are gritty but beautiful in their own right. The muted colors communicate sadness, while the large expressive marks communicate energy and even joy. The ways in which Lean move the paint are both intuitive and planned, a beautiful marriage of both control and spontaneity. ”