Karlë Woods was watching hours of YouTube footage of interviews with Maine artists.

The videos are a series by Lights Out Gallery in Norway, where Woods is one of the founders and the creative director. During her research, she noticed a common thread between seven very different artists.

“They either use something important from how they were brought up, whether it be from their immediate ancestors, parents or grandparents, or something deeper that comes from their ancestry as a whole,” Woods said.

That thread became the theme of “Dark the Night and Bright the Stars,” an exhibition curated by Lights Out Gallery in the Ticonic Gallery at Waterville Creates. The show features seven very different artists who are all engaging with their ancestry in their work.

The artists are Gabriel Frey, Raphael Gribetz, Sarah Haskell, Daniel Minter, David Lone Bear Sanipass, Avis Turner and Maria Wolff. They are reflecting on their Passamaquoddy, Mi’kmaq, Jewish, Afro-Atlantic, Scandinavian and Celtic roots. They work in paint and wood, metal and leather, linen and paper. Unexpected connections emerged in the gallery — many of the pieces have blue tones, for example — but each body of work is unique.

“They don’t fit together, necessarily,” Reed McLean, one of the founders and directors of Lights Out, said. “If there is a thesis to it, it would be that ancestry is really personal.”

The project took two years, a first for Lights Out. The curators also developed an exhibition booklet and a feature film that weaves together the interview footage that inspired the show.

Marie Sugden, exhibitions coordinator at Ticonic Gallery, said visitors have been returning to the gallery to spend quiet time alone with the artworks.

“There’s a peacefulness to it,” she said. “It’s almost ethereal. There’s just this unsaid feeling when you’re in the space.”

The artists wrote short reflections on the theme for a booklet published for the exhibition. Here’s a glimpse at what each one had to say.

Gabriel Frey

Passamaquoddy artist Gabriel Frey made what appears at first glance to be a familiar school desk. Closer inspection of “Epistemicide” reveals the traditional motif etched into the surface of the wood. The desk is ajar, and inside is a heart, thumping with the sound of an axe on an ash log.

“Lately, I have been doing a lot of work unraveling generational trauma and the miraculous nature of the fact that my cultural practices, language and teachings are still available to me, despite the myriad attempts at erasure.”

Gabriel Frey for “Dark the Night and Bright the Stars”

Raphael Gribetz

Raphael Gribetz often explores the connection between his Jewish ancestors, the traditions he has learned since childhood and the history of Judaism. “Four Sons from the Haggadah,” for example, depicts a universal character in the text that is read on the first two nights of Passover.

“I feel like our culture has grown distant from text, and that’s a great deficit because there are great texts that help us, help us understand the world and help us understand each other and intensify our lives.”

Raphael Gribetz for “Dark the Night and Bright the Stars”

Sarah Haskell

Sarah Haskell has two portraits in her dining room of two women in her ancestry — one painter, one weaver. She thinks about their lives and their lineage of creativity. She wrote that these works are saying: “”We were here, and we made something beautiful and useful.”

“Art and ancestry become inseparable — one the echo of the other, calling me not only to remember, but to respond. To make is to grieve and to praise, to question and to honor.”

Sarah Haskell for “Dark the Night and Bright the Stars”

Daniel Minter

The team at Lights Out had recently interviewed Daniel Minter when Woods was forming the idea for this exhibition, and she was particularly inspired by the way he described himself as a conduit for his ancestors. His works in this show envision ancestry as something both collective and personal.

“What I really want to channel is my ancestors. I want to speak for them, and for them to know that I exist — that they have protected out into the future.”

Daniel Minter for “Dark the Night and Bright the Stars”

David Lone Bear Sanipass

David Lone Bear Sanipass is a Mi’kmaq storyteller, flute maker, speaker and artist. He is the last who still makes the Mi’kmaq Northern Block Flute, and each one is unique and tuned to a song taught to Sanipass by his grandfather.

“As a storyteller, I’m trying to give another perspective on the native look at the world. If you look at us, we look back and it’s not what it seems.”

David Lone Bear Sanipass for “Dark the Night and Bright the Stars”

Avis Turner

Avis Turner wrote about her sculptures of winged beings emerging from wet clay “through air, like poems.” They are shapeshifting combinations of angel, human and animal. She thinks of them as arriving simultaneously from the past and the future.

“I always and must let my artwork arise from within. It cannot be forced or manipulated to fit a box. So, during the past two years, I ‘danced with the ancestors.’ And let that flow happen.”

Avis Turner for “Dark the Night and Bright the Stars”

Maria Wolff

Maria Wolff’s father often spoke of Viking shipbuilding techniques and dreamt of building his own. Her carved leather story panels were inspired by his Danish fine craft lineage and Norse mythology. She collaborated on this piece with the fine woodworker David Masury.

“Carved pictures and symbols on natural stone and other surfaces helped convey meaning to important markers of time for our peoples of the past. These stories communicate their nature and help our ancestors live on into the future.”

Maria Wolff for “Dark the Night and Bright the Stars”

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IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Dark the Night and Bright the Stars” curated by Lights Out Gallery and presented by Waterville Creates

WHERE: Ticonic Gallery, 93 Main St., Waterville

WHEN: Through Oct. 12

HOURS: Open Wednesday through Monday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Tuesdays and federal holidays.

HOW MUCH: Free

INFO: For more, visit watervillecreates.org or lightsoutgallery.org

UPCOMING EVENTS

For more information about these programs, visit watervillecreates.org.

“Wabanaki Stories”

This production brings the music and storytelling of Maine’s tribal communities to the stage. “Wabanaki Stories” was co-commissioned by Portland Ovations and Akomawt Educational Initiative, and will be at the Waterville Opera House on Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $31. For more, visit watervillecreates.org.

Braiding Circle with artist Verónica Pérez

Participants will braid a simple, three-strand braid while engaging in conversation about identity, experience and belonging. The braids and stories shared will be part of an exhibition at Ticonic Gallery in 2026. The workshop is Oct. 3 from 5 to 7 p.m. Find more detail at watervillecreates.org.

Sukkot: Jewish Harvest Festival

Waterville will be celebrating the festival in Castonguay Square from Oct. 6 to 13, with a community dinner open to all on Oct. 6 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. This event is organized by the Colby College Center for Small Town Jewish Life, Beth Israel Congregation, and the city of Waterville.

Wabanaki Artisan Celebration

The celebration on Oct. 12 will include a clay carving workshop with Passamaquoddy artist Cassandra Rose, storytelling with David Lone Bear Sanipass, a Wabanaki artisan market, a live performance by the Huntley Brook Singers and a film screening with Passamaquoddy language teacher Dwayne Tomah. The events run from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Castonguay Square, and a full schedule is available at watervillecreates.org.