Members of the Bermuda Society of Arts (BSoA) might remember Peter Lapsley from the lively and informative e-mails he sent about the Bermuda arts scene while he served as gallery curator.

Others might recall his own works of art.

It's been a few years since Mr. Lapsley left for New York to pursue a master's degree at Parsons The New School For Design.

He returns tonight, with an exhibit of his recent works at the BSoA.

The show is part of a whirlwind trip for the Bermudian artist, who obtained his graduate degree in May of last year. But while here he spoke with The Royal Gazette about living and working in the US.

Since he left the Island a few years ago to further his career as an artist, Peter Lapsley hasn't shown much of his work on the Island aside from a sculpture which was accepted in the Bacardi Biennial 2008.

"I've been working for an artist and doing numerous art related things, and working on work, and working on having a show in New York," he explained.

Following a year of optional practical training, Mr. Lapsley was given the green light to work in his chosen field.

"I am working with a public artist [Brian Tolle], who did the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City in Manhattan. I'm sort of project managing and fabricating for him.

"I help him out in whatever way, whether that be that research, sourcing materials....basically just working in whatever capacity that is needed."

He also worked as a sculptor at his alma mater.

"I was working two full time jobs, so it was a little crazy, but that has also been a fantastic opportunity as well because the position is something that I coveted for some time and it means that I get to work with undergraduate and graduate students in facilitating their sculptural needs, whether that be technical or conceptual.

"So if they have ideas I [suggest] how to do it, [which] materials to use and, conceptually, if it is going in an awkward direction then I can assist them in how to potentially make it a better project.

"It is sort of like teaching, but not teaching."

A grant from the Bermuda Arts Council afforded him the opportunity for tonight's show.

"They were very generous and awarded me one, which has allowed me to put together this exhibition," said Mr. Lapsley.

"I've been working on that for the last six months. I sort of gave myself licence to basically go in whatever direction the kind of ideas I was having wanted to go in.

"And that was the best way to approach it without any preconceived notions about what I should or shouldn't be doing. I needed to sit back and reassess what I was doing and why I was doing it. And this show gave me an opportunity to do that, and these things I am very pleased with."

The exhibit, Commodity and Desire, features works of 24-carat gold leaf on glass.

"I wanted to do works that were around this idea of commodities and desires the exchange of money for good and the desire we have for it. And for me, I found that I am most interested in the architectural details. These are images that were taken of various homes, buildings, Bermudian architecture and then what I have done is remove all of the information, except for the architectural stuff.

"So all the leaves, trees, fences, walls and I've only left the only left the architectural details. So in this slightly abstracted gold thing, that if you see them from one angle they are this beautiful abstract thing, but then you see them from another and you realise that there is this architectural detail. And because they are on glass they seem to float above the surface and cast these beautiful shadows, that gives them this three dimensional depth."

The works are framed in two-inch deep shadow boxes, but the work itself is on glass and is sandwiched between that and a backing plate, so they sit off the wall.

"I think I am biased, but they are beautiful things and I am very pleased with them."

Mr. Lapsley is also hosting a lunchtime lecture at the Bermuda National Gallery on Wednesday at 12.30 p.m. about his experiences in New York.

"I think before I went away to school, I really had no conception of how people made their way as artists in the big, wide world, and it was something that I was yearning to talk to people about."

He added: "I found it amazing to go to a place where people look upon [fine arts], as being your life and what you do. It has been eye opening, overwhelming, but an amazing experience and I think, as cliché as it sounds, it has changed my life."

The exhibit opening will be held at the BSoA, on the top floor of City Hall, between 5.30 p.m. and 7 p.m. tonight in Studio B.

Also opening in the Edinburgh Gallery, 'Something for Everyone', recent acrylic paintings by Alice Coutet and in Studio A, 'Luminous II', recent paintings by Kendra Earls.

All shows run until July 1.