Bridget Enderle Artist Reception • May 16th

Unraveling

by Bridget Enderle

Unraveling contemplates the paradox of impermanence, exploring the transient nature of human experience, life, and love. While pain and regret often accompany loss, embracing impermanence unearths gratitude and reveals beauty found in entropy. This duality reflects a contemporary struggle: we yearn for change and novelty, yet seek stability and comfort. The predictability of daily life offers security and a form of freedom, even as we resist the monotony of the mundane and confront the reality that all things—people, places, and perspectives—must evolve.

Subtly inspired by the memento mori and vanitas still life traditions, the paintings incorporate objects rich in symbolism. Flowers’ fleeting beauty embodies transformation, while fruit serves as a metaphor for desire, love’s sweetness, and its inevitable decay when neglected. Although symbolic, the objects, flora, and palettes in the Unraveling paintings are grounded in personal narrative, sourced from my daily life over the last few years. Notably, the colored pencil rubbings collaged into the smaller works were collected from my home in San Diego, where I lived with my former partner of 20 years. This century-old home symbolizes a completed chapter in my life. By integrating these rubbings into an archival painting process, I engage in an act of loving remembrance and acceptance of life’s fragility and the transient nature of love and existence.

As an extension of the exhibition, viewers are invited to participate in the “If Only…” Project, which asks participants to reflect on a regrettable loss they have experienced and identify a way they have grown from the changes that occurred as a result of that loss.

Bridget Enderle is a Reno-based artist and instructor at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Bridget earned a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from UNR in 2023. She also holds a Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in Urban Planning from San Diego State University and a Bachelor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies from Miami University. Before devoting her professional life to her art practice, Bridget was an urban planner specializing in equity-focused placemaking, pedestrian, and bikeway design projects. A recipient of numerous awards, her artwork has garnered national and international recognition, with exhibitions at venues such as the Athenaeum Museum, Reno-Tahoe International Airport, and Create! Magazine’s Poetics of Space exhibition presented in collaboration with Deep Space Gallery.

Exhibition Dates: May 9 – June 7, 2025

Reception Date:  Friday, May 16, 2025, 5-7pm

Depot Gallery Hours:  Friday – Sunday 12:00pm to 5:00pm