Women in Art - Raising the Bar
15 FEBRUARY 2022 - 08 MARCH 202248. Caia Matheson
Illuminati
Illuminati
Oil and Dyes on Hand-Stretched Canvas
100H x 100W x 3D cm
2012
Signed and dated on reverse of canvas. Description can be sent with Certificate of Authenticity.
Illuminati
Based on maps the painting is a cartography of history and characters throughout the ages to the present day. It’s really meant to open a dialogue around the term Illuminati which has been applied to various groups of people since the 15th Century. Historically these characters claimed to be unusually enlightened either by an exalted condition of human intelligence or as a direct communication with a higher source.
I’m interested in how the perception of the Illuminati has evolved from Dominicans,Rosicrucians,Hermeticism,Christianity,Kabbala,etc : as religion was significant in the past, to the present day where religion is notable but also individuals such as Elon Musk, Jeff Besos, Mark Zuckerberg are considered to be the modern Illuminati.
I paint with my hands and household sponges onto canvas laid on the floor. I love to mix paint mediums and play with the effects: this can be the most exciting part of the creative process. This artwork was created in my Brighton studio.
ESTIMATE
£5,000 - 6,000
This auction has now ended
Notes
I explore the canvas with paint and sponges, dyes and brushes : looking past the obvious, discovering beauty in unfamiliar places. Immersed in the boundaries of the canvas I begin to create a world within worlds.
There is no notion of beginning or end: just the story in transition that gradually unfolds in time.
There are gates that open with light brush marks and delicacy: a revelation. Heavy laden sponges of paint open portals of darkness that construct patterns: a matrix. Texture shapes forms and the narrative begins….
I paint in layers like a palimpsest.
The first layer is the most superficial, literal interpretation : the final image. Hiding just beneath, the symbolic or allegorical second layer : look closely and you will see. Then comes the layer of the seeker, where comparative meaning can be drawn from : it’s a feeling. The final layer is the hidden layer, full of esoteric meaning : the connection. It is the essence of the work where I began : the seed that grew to the first layer.
The cycle is complete.
-BTEC Foundation Diploma in Fine Art and 3D Design (Distinction)
Wood Street Campus Barnet London, UK
-A Level Art & History of Art
Lansdowne College Bark Place Kensington London, UK
-O Level Art History of Art and English Language
Ashwell House Study Centre Pembridge Square Notting Hill Gate London UK
-St Andrews School for Girls
Johannesburg South Africa
-International School of the Sacred Heart
Tokyo Japan
EXHIBITIONS
2021 | November FLUX Exhibition | Greenwich Peninsula | London
2019 | July Turning Tides Festival |Greenwich Peninsula | London
2019 | July Women in Art Exhibition | Elena Shchukina Gallery Mayfair | London
2019 | March FLUX Exhibition | The National Army Museum Chelsea | London
2018 | May/June Group Exhibition | Elena Shchukina Gallery Mayfair | London
2018 | April FLUX Exhibition | Chelsea College of Arts Chelsea | London
2017 | October Private Exhibition | Stefano Ricci Store Mayfair | London
2017 | July FLUX Exhibition | Chelsea College of Arts Chelsea | London
2017 | May/June Group Exhibition | Elena Shchukina Gallery Mayfair | London
2016 | November FLUX Exhibition | The Old Truman Brewery | London
2015 | December FLUX Exhibition | Royal College of Art Kensington | London
2015 | August Group Exhibition | Lacey Contemporary Gallery Holland Park | London
2015 | July Elements Exhibition | Gabriel Fine Art Gallery Notting Hill Gate | London
2015 | June Lungs Exhibition | Brighton
2015 | May Brighton Festival Artists Open Houses | Brighton
2015 | April Women’s Art Exhibition | Brush Gallery | Brighton
2015 | February BOAT Theatre Auction | Brighton
2014 | December Brighton Festival Artists Open Houses | Brighton
2014 | October ACHICA Promotion | Online
2014 | October The Other Art Fair | Truman Brewery | London
Twitter : @CaiaMatheson
Instagram : @caiamathesonart