Visualizing Ultimate Power : Carole J. Wilson’s paintings in the show ‘The Spirit Within’ reflect ‘the process of becoming conscious.’

If someone were to ask Carole J. Wilson for one definitive statement of who she is as an artist, she would show that person her painting “The Prophetess.”

Based on the composition in Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” a robust, assured prophetess stands in the middle of her mostly female disciples. Wilson feels a real kinship with the central figure of her painting.

“It is the feminist version of ‘The Last Supper,’ ” she said. “We are moving into a time when the power of women is coming to the forefront again.

“My paintings reflect something about the process of becoming conscious, of human beings’ quest at realizing that ultimate power inside themselves.”

One can view “The Prophetess” and 15 more of Wilson’s oil-and-gold-, silver- and copper-leaf paintings at the McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga in the show “The Spirit Within.” The title of the exhibit is not exclusively Wilson’s, but represents a yearly topic for a show at the center.

These shows are “a personal exploration by the artists of what that means to them,” gallery Director Joan de Bruin said. “It can be spiritual, cultural, religious. It is a natural topic of an artist’s exploration, like clouds or self-portraits.”

Wilson said the images in her work have been derived from dreams and years of meditation. She regularly practices visualization techniques. “People are like television sets. A lot of my enjoyment in life is to tune my channels so I can see a broader picture--other dramas and stories that are around,” she said. Like physical fitness enthusiasts who work to get their bodies in shape, she says everybody has the ability to hone their intuitive sides.

A realist painter until six years ago, she began to use gold leaf and paint more abstract, metaphysical imagery after she saw what seemed like a golden angel standing behind someone she knew who felt very alone.

“I wanted to paint this angel,” she said.

Since then, she has discovered a “world inside of me that is filled with more images than the outside world,” she said. “I sensitize myself to helpful energies, and express that in my work. Those energies are highly healing and powerful on the psyche.”

With the use of metal leaf, her paintings are highly reflective of light and change as the day’s light changes.

“One of the things that makes her work unusual and interesting is there is this kind of paradox to it. It’s busy and the colors are bold, but it creates an ambience that is calming,” said Daniel Veneciano, McGroarty’s exhibitions coordinator.

“The Guardian”--a “psychic self-portrait”--depicts a Gustav Klimt-like image of a woman with deep blue eyes.

“I had a guardian that was my protector,” she said.

“I painted the face the day Hussein invaded Kuwait. The face came out brown. The color of her skin is the color of people in that part of the world.”

Another image of a woman reminiscent of Klimt is surrounded by a tree-like form in “Descent Into Matter.”

“That entity is coming from the soul into the physical plane,” Wilson said, adding that the painting was inspired by a friend who was contemplating childbirth.

The triptych “Nations” represents the uniting of three couples and the energy created from these unions, which may or may not take the form of a child.

Space-like images can be found in the “Life Cycle” triptych--which carries us on a journey from primordial times to the crystallization of material forms to civilizations in decay.

“I do feel there are other intelligent life forms out there. We as a planet are part of one massive life system,” she said. The triptychs are “my own mythological expression of the fact that we live in an intelligent universe.”

“My paintings are futuristic--not in the Jules Verne sense--but in the sense that I seek to marry human beings to the totality and to bring body, mind and soul in balance.”

WHERE AND WHEN

* What: “Carole J. Wilson: The Spirit Within.”

* Location: McGroarty Arts Center, 7570 McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga.

* Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays (closed Christmas and New Year’s Day).

* Call: (818) 352-5285.