October 22-December 20, 2015

Sacred Sisters is a collaboration between visual artist Holly Trostle Brigham and award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson. Brigham’s paintings depict eight nuns from 12^th-century Germany, 15^th-century Italy, 16^th-century Spain, 17^th-century Mexico, 18^th-century Japan, and 19^th-century America and Brazil, each of whom was an artist or writer. While Brigham’s portraits imagine the nuns in the midst of their creative work, Nelson gives voice to each figure through a poem phrased as a prayer. Collectively, the works in the show explore issues relating to gender and creativity, religion and history, and the connections between the visual and literary arts.

Hildegard, 2011,watercolor on paper, © Holly Trostle Brigham, photographed by Ken Ek

Dead Hildegard, 2011, watercolor on paper, © Holly Trostle Brigham, photographed by Ken Ek