CHRYSALUM Metamorphosis and Endless Return

OFFMARKET Gallery is pleased to present CHRYSALUM Metamorphosis and Endless Return, a dual exhibition featuring established Western Australian visual artists Caroline Christie-Coxon and Christophe Canato. 

 

This exhibition showcases a selection of Caroline Christie-Coxon’s latest paintings and photographic series, alongside Christophe Canato’s digital collages from his Homo Faber series.

 

Chrysalum explores themes of metamorphosis and transformation, reflecting not only on the transient and ephemeral nature of life but also on the eternal power of renewal, the endless return, and the interconnectedness of all things. The works delve into themes of humanity, relationship with nature, universal consciousness, and evolution.

 

The exhibition examines the paradox of duality, highlighting the coexistence and tension between opposing forces—light and darkness, order and chaos, spontaneity and structure, individuality and oneness. By incorporating universal symbols, archetypes, philosophy, psychology, and science, the artworks invite viewers to explore multiple layers of interpretation, unveiling contemporary concerns of cultural and social significance.

 

The concept Circle Culture underpins Christie-Coxon’s work as a conceptual framework that deconstructs linearity in favour of a cyclical, relational mode of thinking. Rooted in her Fluid Loop motif, an evolving visual language of movement and interconnectedness, Circle Culture engages with ecological philosophy, cultural continuity, and non-hierarchical knowledge systems. Christie-Coxon’s photographic work is a metaphorical response to the worlds unfolding narratives allowing each image to be a meditation on duality, ambiguity and the endless return.

 

Canato’s works depict human bodies in metamorphosis, constructed through the superimposition of fragmented images including anthropology, flora, cultural symbols, and medical tools. His works juxtapose monochromatic elements with glitter as well as gold and silver leaves motifs, creating an antinomic tension between rationality and creativity, authority and decadence. In echo with his previous series Anima, Malopropism and The Space Between Us, this short series is completing a long-standing research about identity and masculinity across diverse cultural landscapes. With Homo Faber, Canato’s digital collages provoke questions on themes of belonging, displacement, and the human condition in relation to society.

 

The show also features a site-specific water installation by Christie-Coxon, focusing on fluidity and her new concept of Soft Paintings. This installation forms part of an ongoing, process-driven, performative project that explores the decontextualisation and transformation of paintings, highlighting their intrinsic artistic value and connection with the audience. The installation underscores the idea of art as inherently connected to life, emphasising the fluidity and ephemerality of both the natural world and the creative process.

The exhibition will be on view until 18 March.