LONDON.- Grove Square Galleries opened, “Hello again!”, the forthcoming solo exhibition by contemporary artist Crystal Fischetti.

“Hello again!” (11 February – 9 April 2021) is a welcoming of the New Year and a celebration of new self. The exhibition features 36 new works, a visual diary symbolic of Fischetti’s 36 years of age. Reflecting her deep search for life, magic and truth, the works – mixing painting and fabrics - radiate energy, light, and movement. Created through a process of staining, soaking and dripping through and onto fabrics, Fischetti’s work is gestural and multi-layered, combining an Abstract Expressionist style with her spiritual influences as a Shaman. Her practices include kundalini, tarot reading and yoga, and these are woven into the self-enlightening qualities of her work and methods.

Embedded in Fischetti’s creative process is also her mixed British, Italian, Colombian ancestry and her eco-conscious upbringing. She responds to her surroundings through the use of botanical dyes and debris to give reverence to the banal and discarded. For this exhibition, she combines this environmentally sensitive narrative with an investigation of her spiritual philosophies, culminating in a powerful articulation of our relationship with the world.

In works such as Happiness is Transient, Fischetti incorporates her own dyed bedsheets, tying knots in and stretching them across the composition in a yogic dance between control and surrender, release and tension. The act of when to push and when to let go becomes part of the creative process and her continual exploration of being. Her bedsheets take on a deeper significance in this light, representing not only the carnal element of the body present but also a universal space for contemplation.

Several of the paintings in this show reflect recent times in a very specific way. Works like Light’n the Darkness and Thank You, Alan are direct responses to deaths within Fischetti’s own personal life, while others such as No Ordinary Reality (inspired by Carlos Castaneda’s writings on the way of the shaman) provide broader observations on a fractured and disconnected 2020 and its importance for humanity.

“It has been a transformative year on a global scale, and also for me on an intimate level as a woman and an artist. Through change, uncertainty, life, death, love, there have been so many unexpected transitions and in many ways the works are a direct reflection of this. In my work there are many layers, and through those layers the paintings take on their own identity, with their own histories and futures. I want to uplift people and also better myself through being present and authentic. There is a Buddhist quote which resonates: ‘Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.’ This feels incredibly important right now.” --Crystal Fischetti