SEARSPORT — The Parsonage Gallery announces two new exhibitions: Gathering Light by Marina Yacoe and Burdens of the Bird by Yvonne Maiden. The exhibitions open with a public reception, Saturday, May 4, from 4 - 6 p.m., and run through June 30. 

Both exhibitions feature artists who have created major bodies of new work that have not been exhibited previously. Working across multiple media including film, photography, sculpture, and painting, they explore related themes of vulnerability and strength.

In the downstairs gallery, Marina Yacoe, of Belfast, exhibits poetic video works in handmade viewers.

“Deftly piecing together stock footage, she creates surprising, sometimes haunting compositions,” said The Parsonage Gallery, in a news release.

Yacoe has studied film, dance, and theology at institutions including the School of Visual Arts in New York City and UCLA, and is currently completing an interdisciplinary PhD at the University of Maine.

In the upstairs gallery, Yvonne Maiden, of Portland, offers an immersive exhibition of recent sculptures alongside sweeping paintings, drawing upon natural and mythological imagery. Maiden studied as a fine arts major at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, completed her MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute, and has worked previously as an art therapist alongside her art practice.

The Parsonage Gallery exhibits dynamic work by a diverse slate of contemporary artists, with a special emphasis on issues of ecology and spirituality. It is co-founded and directed by Dr. Aaron Rosen and Dr. Carolyn Rosen and is a program of the not-for-profit Common Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3).  It is open 11am-6pm daily.