Tamara Mahoney, a Denver artist working in acrylics, mixed media and fiber said she lives and breathes color and texture. 

In her new body of work, Mahoney explores light, and the magical qualities it possesses in a series of animal portraits.

Mahoney’s show, "Radiance," runs through May 29 at Lakewood’s Next Gallery, 6851 West Colfax Ave., Unit B.

“I have always been sensitive to light, or more specifically, the lack of it. During the darkest part of winter, I surround myself with light; glowing lanterns and candles, glittery objects and Christmas lights,” Mahoney said. “But I also turn inwards, searching deep within to find my inner light. The process is slow and sometimes painful, digging for some small light to surface to the world, then going back in to find another source. I bring it forward, again and again, until one day the shroud of darkness begins to lift.” 

Mahoney said this is how she approached working on her latest series last winter — one small and luminous piece at a time, building on each interpretation of radiance to get to the next. 

“There is an element of spirituality that I am seeking in the darkness, a place where I open up and offer the world my Divine feminine energy,” she said. “Through my art, I explore the vast subject of radiant energy as embodied by light, not only as the eye perceives it, but also the way the physical and spiritual bodies experience it.” 

Because energy is so hard to portray, Mahoney said she uses several different subjects to illustrate it. 

“My animal portraits depict energy in a playful manner suggesting the superpowers we all hold within. In my glass renderings, I play with how light radiates through an object as a symbol of the warmth and illumination that we all seek to experience,” she said. “These paintings come from deep inside me, the burning light of feminine creation that is my own radiance.”