Opening Day Talk: Lillian Blades
Saturday, May 31, 2025 | 1-2 pm
Courtesy of the artist and Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama. Photo: Nick Drollette Photography.
Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Cydney Maria Rhines.
Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Toni Smailagic.
Lillian Blades: Through the Veil
June 1–October 26, 2025
This exhibition is made possible, in part, with generous support from:
Platinum Sponsors
Judy and Fred Fiala
Silver Sponsor
Marge and Leon Ellin
In her first solo museum exhibition, Lillian Blades presents an array of recent and new works, exploring themes of memory, connection, self-discovery, and cultural identity. An immersive labyrinth of mixed media “veils” anchors the exhibition, inviting visitors to step inside, wander through, and lose themselves within the dense layers of made and found materials. These radiant tapestries suspended from the ceiling shimmer with reflective surfaces, bouncing color and light throughout the space and imbuing the exhibition with dynamic energy.
Blades’ vivid color palette is inspired by her island upbringing in The Bahamas. Her artistic process of wiring eclectic materials into large-scale assemblages pays homage to the legacy of her late mother, a skilled seamstress who passed away as a result of the artist’s birth.
The result is a patchwork of objects, ideas, and identities, manifesting as an elaborate, suspended maze. The artist’s search for connection unfolds as a kaleidoscope of color, form, and texture—immersing visitors in a dynamic dialogue between past and present, their surroundings, and their own reflections.
Lillian Blades: Through the Veil is organized by Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design and curated by Lacie Barbour, associate curator of exhibitions at Sarasota Art Museum.
