This exhibition brings together three contemporary artists who use paint to combine the real and the imaginary. Each artist creates their own world within the canvas – a portal for both the artist and the viewer to escape into. All three artists are showcasing new bodies of work exploring the metamorphosis between the conscious and subconscious.
Dark Roots explores the power of paint to reconnect and reconsider our own experiences with the world around us. The artists wrestle with contemporary notions of what it is to exist in a rapidly changing environment. Whilst Rouy seeks comfort in the unfamiliar and dream-like landscapes, Moya Rojo utilises biomorphic surreal still life to connect to her past. Figueiredo uses the power of dystopian settings to release her past experiences, allowing her to confront the language of pain. Together, these works foster an intimate dialogue of what it is to exist in the world’s current state of consciousness. By drawing on reality in an expanded sense, these artists underpin what it means to live in a climate of uncertainty and displacement – for example, how for some, Brexit has called into question a displaced sense of identity; the pandemic has distanced and de-socialised us and created a climate of fear; and the digital age has challenged the real from the dreamscape. The need for escapism and fantasy has never been so critical.