Layo Bright: Invasive Blooms – University Galleries - 첥Ƶ University

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A glass portrait, in which a golden face is surrounded by flowers of varying shades of blue, green, and brown. The eyes and lips of the face are closed. The artwork is displayed on a dusty, rust-pink wall.

Layo Bright: Invasive Blooms

Layo Bright: Invasive Blooms

Kasser Theater Lobby
February 1 – May 4, 2025

Bright explores themes of time, feminism, migration, and the African diaspora. Her practice employs blown, fused, and cast glass processes, along with textiles, wood, and ceramics, to engage ideas about individual and community identity.

The exhibition features recent and new works, including the debut of an hourglass sculpture symbolizing the passage of time and Bloom portraits, a collaborative project with the 첥Ƶ University community.

’s Bloom series celebrates resilience and identity, created through intricate glass portraits of women from her community. These works pair cast face molds with individually crafted glass flowers, chosen for their symbolic connection to migration and cultural narratives. For Invasive Blooms, the artist invited Montclair students, faculty, and staff to share their migration stories. These stories have been incorporated into the works, making each piece a deeply personal and community-centered creation.

Layo ’s practice is rooted in creating works that encourage reflection, dialogue, and a sense of shared humanity. Invasive Blooms is an invitation to engage with the beauty and complexity of migration, heritage, and the stories that shape us all.

Click on an image below to enlarge photo.

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A New Bloom Series: Community Portraits in Color

Through interviews, questionnaires, and immersive interactions, the new Bloom series reflects diverse voices and stories of women from underrepresented backgrounds.

The creation process required trust. Participants underwent face casting, sitting still with eyes and mouths closed for 20 minutes while the artist played their respective music selections in the background. To hear some of the musical selections, check out our .

The Bloom series celebrates collaboration and storytelling, highlighting the vibrancy and inclusivity of the Montclair community.

Upcoming Events

Rec Nights: Flower Suncatchers

  • Tuesday, March 4, 6 – 8 p.m.
  • Student Recreation Center
  • Rec Nights is a weekly program hosted by Campus Recreation to promote students’ social and emotional wellness. The University Galleries has partnered with Rec Nights to host a craft event where students can design their own flower suncatchers, inspired by the themes in Invasive Blooms.

All Femme Everything: A Celebration of Womanhood, Sisterhood, and Femininity

  • Thursday, March 27, 6 – 8 p.m.
  • Presentation Hall in the School of Communication and Media
  • This event is hosted by the Office for Social Justice & Diversity as part of Women’s History Month programming. All Femme Everything highlights women of diverse backgrounds and experiences within our community. This year’s theme, designated by the National Women’s History Month Alliance, is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations”
  • Artist Layo Bright will share the process of creating new Bloom portraits that feature Montclair faculty, students, and staff.

Past Events

Artist Reception

  • Tuesday, February 4, 5 – 7 p.m.
  • Meet the artist at the opening reception of Layo Bright: Invasive Blooms in the Alexander Kasser Theater lobby.
  • Remarks by the artist Layo Bright and Director Megan C. Austin at 6 p.m
  • Admission is free and open to the public.

Art Forum

  • Monday, February 10, 5:20 p.m.
  • Calcia Hall 135
  • Art Forum is a speaker series featuring artists, designers, art historians, curators, and art critics from around the world presenting their work and ideas in an open forum, hosted by the Department of Art & Design. Layo Bright will discuss her latest work in the exhibition Invasive Blooms.
  • Admission is free and open to the public.
Explore exclusive content on our digital guide

Explore our free digital guide on , the free arts and culture app created by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Hear insights from the curator and artist, and explore responses from students, faculty, and community members through audio, photo and video features.

About the Artist


Portrait of a woman with long black hair. Behind her are bright glass flowers, ranging in varying shades of pinks and purples.

Layo Bright (b. 1991 in Lagos, Nigeria; lives and works in Brooklyn, New York) received a law degree from Babcock University in 2014 and an MFA from the Parsons School of Design in 2018. She has exhibited her work at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgewood, CT; Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA; MICA’s Meyerhoff Gallery, Baltimore, MD; Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY; Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY; and Halsey Mckay Gallery, East Hampton, NY.