The surreal paintings in Rebecca Chaperon’s latest series, “Incandescence”, mirror the psychic balance between light and dark. Only in the darkness can we see things glow and show their truly luminous spirit. The crystal forms in these paintings are buoyant, defying gravity, and then sometimes appear temporarily enthralled with their own reflections. There is a transcendental and a transcending quality. Suspended in time and space, these luminescent icebergs and crystalline bodies are alive with light, incandescent nomads afloat in slow movement or temporarily caught in harmonic balance. Depicted in their somnambulant state above dark seas and land, the crystals are an evolution on the artist’s previous, more abstract, series of crystals with flat “blank” backgrounds. In “Incandescence” they are brought to life, to glow in the dark, or be peered at through the mouth of a cave. In this exhibition, icebergs are the water-bound, distant cousins to the crystal forms, also floating and exploring unfamiliar realms. Chaperon’s work investigates themes of escapism and embraces the shadow-self in order to produce work that calms chaos and invokes balance and quiet contemplation.

Words and images via Roq La Rue Gallery