CHICAGO, IL.- Chicago artist Melika Bass makes experimental films that explore cults, women’s asylums, and menacing creatures through atmospheric narratives that emphasize image and sound textures. Using both non-professional actors and performance artists, her films often reveal a subtle surrealist influence and focus on enigmatic actions and situations. Shooting in 16mm film and exhibiting in digital video, Bass presents her work in an installation that opens this evening during First Fridays at the monthly “UBS 12 x 12: New Artists/New Work” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago, and runs through February 27, 2011. The film presented in the exhibit, Shoals: A Film Cycle in Seven Parts, is shown in a series of seven chapters. The premiere of the theatrical version of Shoals (52 min) is screened separately in the MCA Theater along with the Chicago premiere of her film Waking Things (40 min) on Sunday, Febr