show by young American artist, Emilia Cleopas.

Entitled Explosion of the Soul, it is certainly an explosion of colour, with 35 paintings that provide a provocative and personal view, not so much of Bermuda, but its community.

Inspired, as she says, by the old Southlands estate next to her Warwick home, her paintings echo a strictly intuitive response, realised in a style that falls under that loosely convenient "umbrella'' of Modernism. It is a style which she says "evolved'' out of the graffiti art of her native New York and incorporates cubism, expressionism, surrealism and probably a lot of other "isms'' as well.

There is nothing traditional in her concept of Bermuda. Rather, she paints (in acrylics with a touch of watercolour here and there) from an imagination which reflects the primal energy that emanates from an island sitting atop an extinct volcano. As might be expected, symbolism forms an integral part of her work.

Southlands -- The Passage becomes the metaphorical cry for the pristine nature of the universe, whose very existence is threatened by the so-called progress of man. The ancient trees become the Elders "with their great roots hanging from the sky'', while only the familiar circular form of the bay grape leaf hints of locality.

The one picture that is easily identified with Bermuda is Good Friday, a beautifully composed work with its frieze of Easter lilies rising from a tangle of vivid green foliage. Underneath are balls and marbles, a skein of string tracing the flight of a solitary kite that soars into a bright blue sky.

There are lessons of morality in Cleopas' work. The apparent simplicity of Little Portuguese Girl, for instance, with her wide, dark eyes, rosy cheeks and sleek hair, cradling an armful of brilliant blooms, is a tribute to the Portuguese community and their contribution in beautifying the Island; and As Above So Below shows a woman hoarding a bowl of corn while a woman behind her points to a sky filled with corn cob-shaped clouds, indicating that the goodness of the earth comes from above.

A sense of spirituality, even religiosity, pervades her art, but understanding, like beauty, often resides in the eye of the beholder. A recurring motif in many of the pictures, appearing first as mere patters turn out to be, on closer inspection, minute numbers and equations, signifying mathematics as the universal language and representing the balance of two worlds, between the spiritual and the material and reducing all to the single number of our reality.

Mary Magdelene is a powerful colour study in flat shades of reds and oranges, the scarlet face framed by a cascade of red hair peeping through a veil peppered with stars that give her an air of enigmatic reproach.

The Elders is a charming, primitive-style depiction of a little girl clad in Sunday-best hat, handbag over wrist and a neat necklace of pearls signifying her innocent desire to please the elders who stand behind her.

In the same vein is another attractive piece, Red Velvet Chair, where a woman and her pigtailed granddaughter sit rapt in the ritual of folk-lore stories.

The composition of this picture is interesting, with a real sense of vitality in the seated figures.

Women, and their place in this world also concerns Ms. Cleopas. Tempest, perhaps the most visually appealing picture of all, portrays Earth as a female. This very stylised, almost decorative work shows the pensive face of a woman surrounded by wind and waves in a swirl of blue that is pale, turquoise and deep as midnight.

The arrival of Emilia Cleopas introduces yet another dialogue in Bermuda's evolving art vocabulary. There is a feeling that her style, which still owes much to Picasso and Chagall, is itself still evolving and the bold, sometimes strident colours, to say nothing of her subject matter may not be to everyone's taste. What is certain is that she adds a refreshing, often original approach and this can only be good for Bermuda.

Emilia Cleopas' work will be featured at Mouton Noir Gallery, Burnaby Street, Hamilton until April 15. PATRICIA CALNAN THE ART OF EMILIA -- American artist Emilia Cleopas, whose one-woman show can be seen at Gallery Mouton Noir.