Artist Sarah Clough — a longtime Oklahoma resident who just finished received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) — is returning to her home state for an immersive, solo exhibition titled The Bright Side premiering with an opening reception at 6 p.m. Friday, December 8 at MAINSITE Contemporary Art, 122 E. Main, Norman.

The Bright Side will run at MAINSITE through Friday, January 12, its opening and closing receptions coinciding with the Norman Arts Council’s 2nd Friday Norman Art Walks held monthly in the Walker Arts District of Downtown Norman. Artist and musician Justin Hogan will also have works on display in The Library Gallery.

The exhibition includes a gallery-wide mural and a series of paintings, all rooted in graphology and semiotics. The works begin as words, a nod to her background in language, taking on both a chaotic but also orderly quality further twisted by the use of fluorescent and phosphorescent paint.

“These works are meant to be in sunlight, under ultraviolet light and in the dark,” Clough said, noting that visitors will be given special ultraviolet flashlight with which to uncover the layers behind the pieces and larger mural. “These works allow viewers to control their experience: What is illuminated, what is unearthed and what remains buried or unexamined.”

It’s not unlike a game of hide and seek, Clough said, the experiential nature demonstrating the subjectivity of perception.

MAINSITE Contemporary Art is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday with special receptions held from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, December 8 and Friday, January 12. Gallery hours will, however, be limited between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.