Angels & Aliens
A curated show at The Alembic in Berkeley
As many of you know, I am the curator at the incredible multi-faceted space called The Alembic in Berkeley, CA. You can read their incredible Substack and find out more about the space and what’s going on HERE
The next exhibition is titled Angels & Aliens: The Truth is Out There. This stems from a conversation I had with the galactically amazing Laura Ward and the fact that I already have created the playlist (entitled Aliens with all Alien-themed songs - I’ve gotta add all of the Angel-themed songs next) for the opening way before I even conceptualized it as an idea. Sometimes things just presuppose themselves in such delicious ways.
Cosmologist, by Toni Taylor, Oil on canvas, 16” x 20” $1300
Since the beginning of time and probably before, we have been visited by otherworldly entities. What and who are they? Whether they arrived in advanced aircraft, as potentially attested to in the Vedas, for example, teleported directly into our living spaces, like Mary visited by Gabriel, or communed with us in the Imaginal, as in Crowley’s experiments calling in the Aethyrs, they have made themselves known at times of both personal and cultural significance. We have called them by many names and every culture around the world describes some version of them.
The Blessing, Martina Hoffmann, fine art print on canvas, 39” x 31” $1200
Here’s the thing though. These visitations happen much more frequently and to far more people than we may imagine. In our modern verbiage, we culturally consider these beings “Aliens.” In prior centuries, there was no concept of an extraterrestrial being as we think of it today, thanks much to the invention of sci-fi, the space race and Barney and Betty Hill. They were called “Angels.”
Cherubim, Krisztina Lazar, oil and casein, 24 kt gold on canvas, 30” x 40” $8000
Unless you happen to be very religious or Christian-oriented in some way shape or form, nowadays if you have an experience of an entity contact, you would possibly consider that you were contacted by an ET of some kind. Reading descriptions of ancient Angel contact however, which happens to be one of my favorite things to study as it peppers the pages of the history of Western Esotericism in the most intriguing ways, there are remarkable similarities in experience, even if the context in which the experience is embedded is culturally signified. I mean, just do a little skimming of the work of Jeffrey Kripal, if you aren’t huge fans of his work already. He was recently at The Alembic for an incredible talk with Erik Davis and then Michael, my husband, interviewed him on his podcast Deconstructing Yourself. Anyway, Dr. Kripal’s work states that so many people are encountering this kind of phenomenon that instead of thinking of it as non-normative consciousness, it should be incorporated as normative and properly studied. I concur.
The Pyramid, Roozi Roomian, acrylic on canvas, 26” x 26” $777
Have I been abducted by aliens? Yes. Have I been visited by an Angel? Yes. Is there nuance and even great differences between these two Beings? Absolutely. There is so much to say here and clearly, there are volumes written about this very topic by countless authors, scientists, mystics, and fringe explorers. The X-Files wasn’t the most popular TV show for many years for no reason. There is a felt persistence that comes up when you sit with this topic, almost like you can feel someone watching you from across the room but can’t quite make out who it is, or that the person you are trying to find is just in front of you, just passed the corner you are about to turn. It’s slippery but vibrant, ethereal and imminent all at the same time.
Alien or Angel, Olga Spiegel, Digital Painting, 22” x 17” $500
This exhibition at The Alembic explores the many faces of these Beings and gives the incredible variety of their existence life in ways that words cannot fully accomplish. With artists from across the country and around the world, I chose the work to explore a variety of perspectives, from archetypal portrayals that we can all recognize to deeply personal symbolic representations that span the figurative into the abstract. There is something about these encounters that are fundamentally unique and personal and yet they speak with a universal set of symbols. We can see each artist’s individual perspective and also recognize the broader symbolic language they are working with.
Probability, Vibrata Chromodoris, Acrylic on wood panel, 24” x 18” $1600
If you are local, please come to the opening on March 1st from 6-8pm. Find more details HERE.
If you are not local, I have put together a short video of all of the pieces in the exhibition for your enjoyment. All of these paintings are for sale and 30% of the sale price goes to the Alembic. I am a volunteer so I get the joy of promoting art and artists that I absolutely adore and believe in. If you are interested in purchasing any of the pieces you see or finding out more about them and the artist, send me a message.
Perhaps among all of the images in this exhibition, we will see that the truth is in fact, out there.