Hello, I am Segolene Kan. And I would like to walk you through my exhibition "Exhale".

My practice is connected to the landscape as one of the genres of fine art. Landscapes are very inspiring, they help us feel the world around us better and to learn more about ourselves, to elevate our souls and to connect to something spiritual that is hidden behind or inside the canvas. I have a particular work method that I elaborated during my experience. I create most of my paining with the use of bomb-spray. It creates a "sfumato-effect". It is a technique for softening the transition between colours, mimicking an area beyond what the human eye is focusing on or the out-of-focus plane. This method is very free and spontaneous. It gives this sort of light and weightless effect to the paintings. At the same time I mix this technique with a more precise and thorough oil method that follows the bomb-spray stage. I work with precious pigments as the indigo blue. This technique of mixing the two methods helps me evolve as an artist: it gives this experimental touch to everything I do (since I am a contemporary artist), but I also get to work with older and more meticulous techniques that are well-known to all of the landscape artists.

During this exhibition I show two series. The first one is dedicated to the sky. The image is not focused on anything particular. It is just pure atmosphere and light. When you stare into the image you almost get into sort of trance, meditative state. It's like you connect to some sort of a spiritual essence that walks you through your thoughts, ideas, dilemmas. It helps you find answers and gives you a better understanding of what is right and wrong for you. So if you have something that is meaningful to you — a question or a dream that you would like to address to the sky — you have to get in contact with the painting and live through that experience.

The second series is dedicated to Baikal. My step-daughter is from that area. And in order to get in touch with her I wanted to learn more about the place she calls home. When I discovered the beautiful nature of Baikal I fell in love with it. There was something so magical about the connection of ice in winter or water surface in spring and summer with the wind, the light and the sky. I also learnt about different shaman-traditions that are related to this area. I decided to include abstract images of the mythical creatures protecting people that live in this area to my usual landscapes. Even though they are visible they are still not figurative — they are abstract brush strokes that look like some illusions that sometimes appear on the sky.

I believe that strong and powerful meaning comes from easy and pure images. In my work I want to turn a landscape into a spiritual experience for the person that is looking for something in his life. My art is for everyone and I really hope you feel some emotions and sensations through connection with my works. Thank you so much for coming to see the exhibition. I really hope ghat you enjoy it. And I will be very pleased to see you very soon".