Portraits: Through The Looking Glass

20 February - 22 March 2025
  • Portraits: Through The Lookoing Glass

  • JD Malat Gallery is delighted to present Portraits: Through The Looking Glass, a group exhibition that reimagines the conventional narratives surrounding portraiture, uniting twenty distinguished contemporary artists who redefine our understanding of representation, perception, and the human experience in this seemingly digital age.

  • Through The Looking Glass
    Katia Lifshin, The seed, 2021, Oil on canvas, 43 1/4 x 43 1/4 in, 110 x 110 cm

    Through The Looking Glass

    Drawing profound inspiration from Lewis Carroll's seminal work ‘Through the Looking-Glass’ (1871), the exhibition explores the looking glass as a multifaceted metaphor, simultaneously a mirror of reality, a window into imagination, and a transformative portal of perception. This concept resonates across historical and artistic contexts, from Narcissus's reflective pool in Greek mythology to Rembrandt's introspective self-portraits, underscoring the looking glass as a potent symbol of self-examination and metamorphosis.

  • The Facets Of Identity
    Thierry Carrier, Untitled, 2021, Oil on canvas, 63 x 51 1/8 in, 160 x 130 cm

    The Facets Of Identity

    The exhibition brings together artists working across diverse artistic approaches and techniques, presenting multiple styles including realism, digitally inspired designs, dreamlike surrealism, and figurative abstraction. Together, the artists interrogate how portraiture can continue to reveal hidden dimensions of the human experience, inviting viewers to step beyond conventional perceptions and reconsider their understanding of identity, perception, and representation.

  • Ian Cumberland (b. 1983, Northern Ireland)
    Ian Cumberland, 14314 days, 2022, Oil on linen, 150 x 110 cm

    Ian Cumberland (b. 1983, Northern Ireland)

    Ian Cumberland stages fictional scenes that give the viewer a sensation of voyeurism. Individual figures contained within generic everyday settings create an environment which intrudes into moments that appear private. He carefully arranges mise-en-scènes, sets, actors, props, and lighting to reconstruct an illusion of normality that is understood through mass media. These are then photographed and painted. 

     
  • Sophie-Yen Bretez
    Sophie-Yen Bretez, « It is born of A strange equation. Numbers adrift, A fleeting trace, It is the echo of time In the curve of my face. », 2025, Acrylic and oil on linen, 39 3/8 x 29 1/2 in, 100 x 75 cm

    Sophie-Yen Bretez

    Sophie-Yen Bretez is a self-taught Vietnamese-French artist based in Paris who transitioned from business management to full-time art in 2021. Her surrealist figurative work explores emotional recovery and identity through dream-like scenes featuring characters against illuminated horizons, often depicting nude female figures who assert agency by gazing directly at viewers.
  • Máté Orr (b. 1985, Hungary)
    Máté Orr, Acting Out, 2024, Oil on canvas, 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 in, 100 x 80 cm

    Máté Orr (b. 1985, Hungary)

    Máté Orr combines traditional oil painting with contemporary vector graphics to create mystical images exploring human psychology. Orr draws 2D silhouette-like "notan" forms in Adobe Illustrator, then hand-paints them alongside realistic 3D details on canvas, creating a constant shift between the realistic and emblematic.
     
  • Amélie Peace (b. 1997, France)
    Amélie Peace I still bleed, 2021, Acrylic and graphite on canvas, 63 x 55 1/8 in, 160 x 140 cm

    Amélie Peace (b. 1997, France)

    Amelie Peace's practice delves into exploring the experience of touch and the human need for physical connection. The psycho-physical dialogues that the artist depicts in her paintings discuss emotional, sexual and gendered experiences. In her work, Peace explores different questions on physicality: what it means to have a body, to share that body, and how this physical connection alters one's perception of their own physical presence and self.

     
     
  • Marcela Flórido (b. 1988, Brazil)
    Marcela Flórido, Maropa, 2019, Oil on canvas, 48 x 44 in, 121.92 x 111.76 cm

    Marcela Flórido (b. 1988, Brazil)

    Marcela Flórido's multifaceted paintings examine contemporary perspectives on identity, gender and cultural representation through richly layered narratives. Her spontaneous application onto the canvas generates complex visual dialogues that interrogate established perspectives on cultural identity.
     
  • Kojo Marfo (b. 1980, Ghana)
    Kojo Marfo, Stranger #12, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 66 7/8 x 57 1/8 in, 170 x 145 cm
     

    Kojo Marfo (b. 1980, Ghana)

    Kojo Marfo is a Ghanaian artist based in London whose compositions reference traditional Akan art alongside Western influences to bridge cultural boundaries. His work provides distinct commentary on social issues including inequalities, religion, politics and spiritualism.
     
  • Katia Lifshin (b. 1993, Ukraine)
    Katia Lifshin, Staged fight, 2021, Oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 23 5/8 in, 60 x 60 cm

    Katia Lifshin (b. 1993, Ukraine)

    Katia Lifshin explores identity, transformation and connection through surreal landscapes featuring young female figures navigating ethereal environments. Her distinctive blue-green palette compositions act as metaphorical representations of personal identity and environmental context.
     
  • Dannielle Hodson (b. 1980, UK)
    Dannielle Hodson, Woolgathering, 2025, Oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 in, 60 x 50 cm

    Dannielle Hodson (b. 1980, UK)

    Dannielle Hodson creates intricate, psychologically charged compositions inspired by carnivalesque traditions that blur boundaries between abstraction and figuration. Her paintings generate complex visual environments where multiple figures merge and transform, highlighting the mutable nature of human consciousness and embodied experience.

     
  • Thierry Carrier (b. 1973, France)
    Thierry Carrier, Untitled, 2023, Oil on canvas, 63 x 51 1/8 in, 160 x 130 cm

    Thierry Carrier (b. 1973, France)

    Thierry Carrier is celebrated for his evocative portraits that challenge traditional notions of identity, through placing his solitary subjects in undefined, timeless spaces without traditional titles, inviting viewers to engage with the work on an introspective emotional level.

     
  • Han Ji Min (b. 1978, Korea)
    Han Ji Min, Reader, 2025, Oil on canvas, 35 3/4 x 25 5/8 in, 90.9 x 65.1 cm

    Han Ji Min (b. 1978, Korea)

    Han Ji Min is a contemporary Seoul-based artist recognised for soft-edged compositions depicting figures in serene environments. Han focuses on backs and subtle body movements in boldly framed compositions, capturing the simultaneous sense of stability and inner anxiety of urban life through soft, mid-range hues.

     
  • Jade Ching-Yuk NG (b. 1992, Hong Kong)
    Jade Ching-Yuk NG, Jet, 2024 Oil on canvas, 63 x 51 1/8 in, 160 x 130 cm

    Jade Ching-Yuk NG (b. 1992, Hong Kong)

    Jade’s work explores the fragile nature of physical intimacy between herself and others, reflecting on the sensibility of constant touches and separation among us. The artist utilizes human experience as the primary subject in her work, blending them with iconic graphical symbolism and a rich palette of contemporary visual languages, situating her portrayal at the chaotic intersection of the tangible world and uncanny simulacrum. NG creates 'body puzzles' that combine personal experiences with mystical and alchemical symbolism, deconstructing and reconstructing these elements into ambiguous surrealist narratives.
     
  • Yann Leto (b. 1979, France)
    Yann Leto, Break up Letter, 2025, Oil on linen and painted ceramic, 25 1/4 x 17 3/8 x 1 1/8 in, 64 x 44 x 3 cm

    Yann Leto (b. 1979, France)

    Yann Leto explores irony, sociopolitical criticism and equivocal topics through bridging traditional art historical motifs with a contemporary technique. He creates surreal collage-like narratives by combining vivid and murky colour palettes with cubism influence.

     
  • Owain Hunt (b. 1994, UK)
    Owain Hunt, The Mirror's Edge, 2025 Oil on linen, 55 1/8 x 36 in, 140 x 91.5 cm

    Owain Hunt (b. 1994, UK)

    Owain Hunt approaches portraiture as a vehicle for exploring human connection and temporal experience. His methodological approach emphasises direct observation of subjects drawn from diverse personal relationships, creating pieces that function simultaneously as documentary evidence and interpretive exploration.
     
  • Henrik Aa. Uldalen (b. 1986, South Korea)
    Henrik Uldalen, Untitled, 2019, Oil on Wood, 59 1/8 x 59 1/8 in, 150 x 150 cm

    Henrik Aa. Uldalen (b. 1986, South Korea)

    Henrik Aa. Uldalen is a self-taught expressionist artist raised in Norway who blends contemporary painting with classic figurative painting. He examines themes like nihilism, existentialism and loneliness that juxtaposed the dream-like paintings.

     
  • Celine Ali (b. 1997, Turkey)
    Celine Ali, Night Dreamer , 2024, Oil on canvas, 43 1/4 x 35 3/8 in, 110 x 90 cm

    Celine Ali (b. 1997, Turkey)

    Celine Ali work explores human connectivity, emotional intimacy and unconventional ideas of women's existence. Her paintings feature faceless figures that encourage viewers to shape their own narratives, incorporating cubist influences and surrealist aesthetics to create vibrant visual compositions that portray different facets of femininity.

     
  • Roberta Booth (b.1947, UK)
    Roberta Booth, Seen What Happened Last Time They Started, 1975, Oil on canvas, 59 7/8 x 48 in, 152 x 122 cm

    Roberta Booth (b.1947, UK)

    Roberta Booth is an established artist who examines consciousness, through her work highlighting the intersection of machinery with nature. The anthropomorphic elements blended with a soft vulnerability address the relationship between humanity and creations of the machine. 
     
  • Erkut Terliksiz (b. 1978, Turkey)
    Erkut Terliksiz, Knock at the Door, 2022, Acrylic on Canvas, 47 1/4 x 39 3/8 in, 120 x 100 cm

    Erkut Terliksiz (b. 1978, Turkey)

    Erkut Terliksiz vibrant compositions challenge conventional figurative representation by synthesising traditional and contemporary approaches to painting. His distinctive figures are characterised by exaggerated features  alluding to psychological depth and vulnerability.