INSTALMENTS | Sebastián Espejo

Stepping into Espejo’s studio, currently located on the edge of an industrial estate in Northeast London, is a surprising experience. After passing through industrial bakeries and a recycling centre, the studio emits a warm glow. There is a smell of cedar, the sound of Tropicália, and the taste of nuts and dark chocolate figs offered from a traditional Chilean woven basket. Sebastián brews herbal tea and gestures to a seat; it's a haven in the thick of London’s urban sprawl.

Looking around the studio, it’s clear that Sebastian is a collector. Occupying every surface are objects that have travelled with the artist from other times and places - loyal companions as he calls them “...characters in a miniature theatre of light. They are a constellation in a world of variables… a tool and a device of contemplation. They seem to change each day. They act as my subject, my figure and at times my landscape.” Espejo is democratic in this process of discovery – these cherished objects are always humble, chosen for their integrity rather than their value, with no hierarchy between the pebbles, flowers and lichens. 
 
In Espejo's paintings, worlds are framed within worlds. Often, in the foreground, a still life establishes the scene, set against a window looking out towards a landscape, seascape or star-scape. Each painting suggests a kind of contradiction - an openness to distant horizons, but often from within a space that is by its very nature enclosed, a window that holds the viewer in - a kind of philosophical juggle between an offer of infinity and its quotidian opposite.