ALICIA PARHAM: LUCIDA CEREBRI

July 12, 2025 – August 16, 2025

PRESS RELEASE

(Dallas) Ro2 Art is proud to present an exhibition by artist Alicia Parham. The exhibition will open July 12, 2025 and remain on view through August 16, at Ro2 Art Gallery, located at 2606 Bataan St., Dallas, TX, with an opening reception to be held July 12, from 7-10 pm.

In Lucida Cerebri, Latin for “bright mind” – Dallas-based artist Alicia Parham explores the intersection of fine art and neuroscience. Inspired by her 2021 health diagnosis and ongoing neurological experiences, Parham transforms personal perception into visual form.

Drawing from brainwave data and neurological research, she uses EEG recordings and software like Touch Designer to convert Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Theta waves into patterns of movement, color, and form. Her paintings become visual records of cognitive activity, infused with the optical “floaters” and distortions that shape her view of the world.
Rather than simply illustrating the mind, Parham’s work embodies it. These pieces act as both meditations on altered perception and artifacts of lived experience, offering a uniquely expressive lens on the imperfect, but deeply creative realities of the brain.

Several works are rendered as sculpted silhouettes that suggest both anatomical structures and Rorschach-like inkblots, Parham’s works channel complexity into form. What might first read as abstraction is, in fact, grounded in data — each piece translating neurological activity into vivid visual language. That these forms emerge from EEG scans and optical distortions speaks to the body’s role as both subject and source. It’s a process that transforms invisible experience into something undeniably present: lush, expressive, and materially alive.

Press Release

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Alicia Parham (American, b. 1998) is an interdisciplinary artist and art educator native to
North Texas. She received her BFA in Drawing and Painting from the University of North
Texas in 2023 and is currently pursuing her MFA at Southern Methodist University.
During the school year, she teaches art at a preschool and a homeschool co-op for
middle and high schoolers, working with students from ages 18 months to 18 years old.
Parham has been recognized by the Dallas Museum of Art via the Arch and Ann Giles
Grant 2024, and by UT Southwestern for her creative achievements. In November 2023,
she opened her debut solo show Intravenous at The Paul Vortmens Gallery in Denton,
Texas. Her work has been exhibited at 500x Gallery in Dallas & Irving, Gallery 8680 in
Frisco, and Jupiter Landing via Jupiter House in Denton, Texas. She is a two-time
national award-winning designer (2015, 2019) through the LLS Light the Night national
design competition and has received grants for her research via the Dallas Museum of
Art and the University of North Texas.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Parham is inspired by neurological research and the relationship with our brain. Her
paintings act as artifacts that capture a moment of consciousness, expressing how she
perceives the human experience. Playing with color, experimental practices, and visual
drama are consistent elements throughout her practice, taking away the idea of
perfection and replacing it with the interest that comes from work being created by an
imperfect human hand.

After a major health diagnosis during a routine eye exam at the end of 2021 that would
affect her eyesight long-term, her practice shifted to recording her experiences with
neurological struggles. She underwent five brain surgeries in 2022 to resolve the issue.
Using EEG brainwaves and the optical “floaters” that interfered with her perception of
reality, Parham creates large dramatic compositions. While her eyesight was affected,
she formed an obsession with color and how it is perceived by the human eye, and
furthermore, a very imperfect human eye. Her collection Intravenous came out of this
struggle.

As both a student and teacher, her perspective has changed as she navigates her
education through the lens of her students. Curiosity and failure are important to her
creative process, and she believes that great things can come out of great challenges.

For more information / registration please click here.