"Learning How To See"
A solo exhibition by Claudia Robles-Gil
presented at Artishouse NYC on September 9, 2024
Photography credits:
Hallie Geller
Advait Gharat
Phillip Diab
I thought I knew how to see.
After all, one does not need to learn how to see. We’re born seeing, aren’t we?
What I learned in the past year is that actually, most of us don’t really know how to see.
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As children, we see the world through our senses – our intuition. But, over time, our eyesight gets dusty. Through the expectations and worldviews of our parents, friends, and society, the illusion builds up. What we once marveled at with wonder becomes ordinary. Ugly, even.
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As we grow up, we get worse at seeing. Not because our eyes fail us, but because we get better at thinking. Thinking veils our eyesight – allows our filter of the world to collect dust.
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This past year, and most importantly this summer, I had to unlearn how to see. And, like a child discovering the world for the first time, I began the process of relearning how to see.
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When I first opened my eyes, I saw the pure, untouched beauty of Costa Rica and Mexico – beauty that felt ancient and eternal. I began to feel like capturing this beauty through my painting would be worthwhile. In beauty, I began to find a sense of home.
"In beauty, I began to find a sense of home."
"I discovered something surprising: the hectic trace of humans did not detract from the beauty. Rather, it created a new kind of beauty."
In the city, I tried to grasp at the same beauty I had found in nature. I found glimpses of it in the trees.. in the water… in the sunsets. But people, buildings, and human chaos were in the way.
I have to be honest in my paintings, I thought to myself. I have to paint things as they really are.
So, I decided to include this human chaos in my work.
In doing so, I discovered something surprising: the hectic trace of humans did not detract from the beauty. Rather, it created a new kind of beauty— one that emerged from the interaction of natural purity with urban life, where the contrast of one against the other only made the beauty of each even more pronounced. Not only did these elements coexist – they actually enriched each other.
I realized then that I’d begun to capture something beyond what could be seen. I was peeling away layers of reality, revealing an emotional truth beyond the physical one, where the light came from the energy of life —humans, animals, nature – itself.
Home (Sunset in Long Island City)
Oil & acrylic on canvas
60 x 48 inches
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Lovers in LIC
Oil & acrylic on canvas
60 x 48 inches
"And anywhere I could find beauty, I could find home."
I began to look more deeply into the ordinary moments of daily life, and found quiet beauty all around me. In my corner studio at sunrise. In the handwritten ideas on my notebook. In a white bedsheet laying on the grass at sunset. In a simple run to the deli for milk with friends.
I saw that beauty could be found anywhere, where one chooses to look deeply enough. And anywhere I could find beauty, I could find home.
Only For A Moment
Oil & acrylic on canvas
72 x 44 inches
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Oil & acrylic on canvas
30 x 40 inches
Photo credits: Advait Gharat
"My art was a way to reveal parts of myself I couldn't see before.
The world was just a mirror, a mirror of paradoxes that seemingly coexisted both within and outside of me."
Finally, after all this, I realized that what I thought was about seeing the world was never really just about that.
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It was about seeing myself.
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My art was a way to reveal parts of myself I couldn’t see before. The world was just a mirror, a mirror of paradoxes that seemingly coexisted both within me and outside of me.
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Dark and light. Loneliness and home. Meaninglessness and meaningfulness. Fear and strength.
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In my paintings, these parts revealed themselves to me before my very eyes.
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Trying To Find The Point
Oil & acrylic on canvas
48 x 60 inches
I saw the colors that make my soul sing.
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I saw the people that make my heart love.
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I saw moments of deep loneliness – the very same loneliness that taught me to recognize home.
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I saw my darkness, I found my light.
I saw that moments are but a speck of time – but if you’re present, they’re also eternal.
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I saw my joyful, childish Mexican spirit – after a lifetime of not feeling Mexican – sing loudly through my colors… through my oceans, my trees, my sunsets.
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I saw the moments where the divine reminded me that my life was more than just mine.
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I even learned how to look at my pain differently – as a compassionate and curious spectator, rather than the one drowning in the storm.
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The Choice to Notice
Oil & acrylic on canvas
60 x 48 inches
Photo credits: Hallie Geller
Enjoy the Show
Oil & acrylic on canvas
40 x 40 inches
"I even learned how to look at pain differently - as a compassionate and curious spectator, rather than the one drowning in the storm."
Sanctuary
Oil & acrylic on canvas
48 x 36 inches
Sunset in NYC
Oil & acrylic on canvas
48 x 60 inches
Photo credits: Hallie Geller
I Will Always Come Back Home
Oil & acrylic on canvas
60 x 48 inches
Photo credits: Hallie Geller
I learned that seeing is not a passive visual act, but a powerful act of creation itself. We actively shape our world – our lives – by what we choose to focus on.
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When we decide to focus on the beautiful, the colorful, the love, the faith, our entire experience of reality changes along with it. Beauty, color, light, love and faith follow.
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In learning to deeply see this side of life, I learned to see it in myself. After all…
“We see the world not as it is, but as we are.” - Anaïs Nin
Beginnings, Endings
Oil & acrylic on canvas
30 x 40 inches
Photo credits: Hallie Geller
"I learned that seeing is not a passive visual act - but a powerful act of creation itself."
