Yesterday I visited the exhibition “Between Worlds” by British painter Rebecca Fontaine Wolf in the Espacoexhibitionista Gallery in Lisbon.

I already loved the diversity of formats, surfaces and shapes that the artist used- smaller works behind perplex glass, ovals, large format linen canvases or very small canvases.

It was also a combination of figurative works and some abstract. I feel how I immediately relate to these works with the female figure. The title “Between worlds” relates to the artist being between different stages of her life, and also to being a woman and experiencing different cycles of life.

Several of the paintings contained self portraits of the artist, like here “Blood Moon”, combined with an abstract painting, which also had some triangles symbolizing womanhood.

The second self portrait  ” Milk Moon” was hanging on the opposite wall.

Together these two portraits captured two different sides of the artist, two different phases or moods.

Another portrait that spoke to me strongly had a smear over the eyes that pulled in my attention. A quick effect, but I felt how it really worked here, in combination with the squares and lines behind the head.

I am quite fascinated by this combination recurring in all the paintings, of figure and some abstract colour fields and lines. I especially like how the artist knows exactly when to stop- and leave parts of the linen canvas untouched.

The oval painting of a serpent seems a little more illustrative and different from the rest, but the title ” Moon Serpent” ties it to the other “Moon Paintings”.

The largest and more monochrome painting contained several female figures, intertwined into impossible postures.

There is a lot of confusion and pain in this painting, some anxiety in the hands grabbing or even digging into the flesh. I can relate to the feelings that this painting expresses for me.

I also really liked this little series of close ups of the expressions in the faces painted on wood and then covered by a dark sheet of perplex- a technical idea to remember!

The artist used wood and perplex for some other smaller paintings too, in interesting different shapes, like the oval eye beside her name on the top image by the entrance, or like here in a hexagonal.

I am definitely fascinated by the way Rebecca Fontaine Wolf applies paint. First thing to remember is to leave parts uncovered. Then she combines acrylics with oil paints and boldly leaves parts in charcoal drawings:

I am intrigued by the way the paint pearls- is she applying acrylics on top of oil paints or what is happening here? Something to explore…

This was a wonderful art visit for me- I felt inspired by the subject and by the many technical new ideas I carried away. I heard that the artist is staying in Portugal for art residencies and hope to catch more of her work soon.