Loren Lerner

Recalling the Symbolist "femme fatale' of the late nineteenth century, Lilian Broca presents at the end of this century an archetypal Lilith charged with creative and destructive energies. From a thoughtful, well researched study of Lilith's origins and interpretations, and with an imagination that understands and dreams angels, Broca reconstructs Lilith's mythological tale. In the process, Lilith's story becomes a women's collective narrative that explores what can happen when as Broca says "the world puts a lid on you…when you have a sense of dignity and somebody tries to oppress you." In a language reminiscent of William Blake who created angels at once figurative, conceptual and personalized, Lilit's expressive body, projected against a drama of lights and darkness, turns into Eve's other as female exile and alien.

Lilian Broca's return to her alma mater is fitting at this time. She first studied comparative religion at Loyola College before she entered the studio arts program at Sir George William University. Captivated with the individuality of the models in the classroom, she countered the purely abstract art and hard-edge painting that were being strongly encouraged during that era. With this exhibition Broca returns to her early interest in mysticism and spirituality and a commitment to the human form to invoke a multiplicity of complex emotions and states of being.

Dr. Loren Lerner, Department of Art History
Associate Dean research & Graduate Studies
Concordia University