THROUGHOUT ALL THREE floors of the stunning Glassell building on the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston campus, beginning Aug. 10, visitors will find colorful, thought-provoking works by one of the school's own: The first in a series of exhibits showcasing art by Glassell faculty members, Chaotic Nodes is a collection of paintings by instructor Arielle Masson.

"Since 1993, I have used as a point of departure the single geometric matrix called the Vesica Piscis or The Vessel of the Fish," says Mexico-born Masson on her website, "which could be described as the overlapping of two circles, creating an almond shape in between." That almond shape, also known in art as a Mandorla, is used to create "a circle-based lattice, which has allowed me to create the most varied patterns seen in my paintings."

Masson moved to Houston by way of Brussels and Paris in 1986, and was awarded her MFA in fine arts and painting from UH in 1990, followed by the coveted Core Program Fellowship from the Glassell School. She's created works for the City of Houston and the MetroRail, and frequently incorporates unexpected industrial materials in her paintings, including laminated glass, Lithocrete, and Lithomosaic.

The Chaotic Nodes show at Glassell offers, per the artist, an insight into "existential paroxysm," or internal crises occurring with a "tear in the fabric of reality." It runs through mid-October, with an opening reception scheduled for Sept. 7 at 6pm, and an artist talk on Sept. 21.

"Mugwort Zone," 2009, egg tempera and oil on canvas on panel