Entanglement, an exhibition of new paintings in which Sandra Lerner continues to prompt contemplation about the energy and communication that exists between two interacting cosmic entities.  The exhibition will open at the June Kelly Gallery, 166 Mercer Street, on March 9, and the works will remain on view through April 18.

Lerner writes I call this current series, Entanglement, because I am painting my perception of energy and communication that occurs between two entangled particles or entities.  Once they have interacted with each other, they are intertwined forever, even though they might be separated by millions of miles.  This can happen at the cellular or subatomic level, or as a cosmic event.  Many physicists theorize that it is entanglement that keeps space/time together.

Further, Lerner writes, my work celebrates the creative process of life in a universe that is constantly in flux.  I like to work in series – a few paintings at the same time.  I look for the possibilities, the “accidents” of the colors and shapes as they dry and open new vistas for me. Very rarely do I draw the composition in advance.  The intuitive part of me is always on alert.

Through my paintings I strive to heighten awareness of our oneness with the universe.  To quote Neil deGrasse Tyson: “We are in the universe and the universe is in us.”

My love of color and the textural feeling of working with paints have been life changing.  Lerner says she is in awe of the mystery and beauty of the creative energy that permeates everything in the cosmos.  A meaningful quote for her is, Albert Einstein’s, “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.”

“My enduring exploration of the fabric of the universe, its ever-changing patterns, gives rise to and parallels my own creative development.  I conceive my art as a spiritual, psychological, and intellectual journey.”

“I studied the piano for eight years when I was growing up.  I had wanted to be a concert pianist, but when I discovered painting as a young woman, I was ‘found’.”  After that, I tried to paint every day.  I still have a note hanging on my studio wall that says, “No day without a line.”

Art historian and critic Donald Kuspit says Lerner’s cosmological paintings are an exhilarating fusion of what Kant called the mathematical and dynamic sublime, with a romantic verve.

Lerner lives and works in New York and Connecticut. She received a bachelor’s degree in art from Hofstra University and studied independently with Leo Manso, Jerry Okomoto and Harry Sternberg.  She also studied calligraphy with master Kampo Harada. Lerner has participated in many one-person and group exhibitions throughout the United States and Japan.  She is represented in numerous public and private collections, including The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut; Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Heckscher Museum, Huntington, New York; Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; Kampo Museum, Kyoto, Japan; World Study Museum, Fukuoka, Japan; Price Waterhouse and 3M Corporation.

The oneness inherent in our universe, amid the multiplicities, is something I feel deeply.  Taoist philosophy, cosmology, physics, and nature have informed my art and inspired my creativity and being.  Lerner has created sets for performances by Eiko and Koma, the Japanese dancers and choreographers.