Mundus Imaginalis
Hazel Florez
1st - 10th September
Private view: Thursday 31st August, 6-8 PM
Hazel Florez b. 1984 is a local London based artist. She is a graduate of the MFA program at Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art. She has exhibited with a range of galleries in London and internationally both in group and solo shows. Her work includes costume, performance art, painting and illustration.
The title of this solo show “Mundus Imaginalis”, is a reference to the French philosopher and social anthropologist: Henry Corbin’s concept of the spiritual imagination. The show contains a collection of surreal oil paintings depicting sacred sites, imaginary creatures, visionary underworlds, mythological dreamscapes all within an interconnected cosmos. Lapis lazuli blue and the use of gold leaf tie the series together, materials associated with sacredness in manuscript illumination. Circular motifs are repeated throughout this collection of Florez’s works. They signify not only our connection to the circular rhythms of change, connected to the wheel of the year and circular planetary motions, but also the sacred feminine pattern of non-linear, cyclical transformation. This collection of works invites the viewer to step into a world of re-enchantment, alchemy and mystery. The series combines both humour and mystical symbolism to bring about a union of reverence with irreverence, the cosmic with the comic.
The title of this solo show “Mundus Imaginalis”, is a reference to the French philosopher and social anthropologist: Henry Corbin’s concept of the spiritual imagination. The show contains a collection of surreal oil paintings depicting sacred sites, imaginary creatures, visionary underworlds, mythological dreamscapes all within an interconnected cosmos. Lapis lazuli blue and the use of gold leaf tie the series together, materials associated with sacredness in manuscript illumination. Circular motifs are repeated throughout this collection of Florez’s works. They signify not only our connection to the circular rhythms of change, connected to the wheel of the year and circular planetary motions, but also the sacred feminine pattern of non-linear, cyclical transformation. This collection of works invites the viewer to step into a world of re-enchantment, alchemy and mystery. The series combines both humour and mystical symbolism to bring about a union of reverence with irreverence, the cosmic with the comic.