Lancaster does not aspire to issue neat conclusions: rather, she has approached In Dreams with an openness towards a ceaseless diversity of interpretations. Her paintings act as vehicles that transport her audience into dreamlike worlds; it then becomes the responsibility of the viewer to develop the rest of the plot. writes Lara Alake.
Installation photographs courtesy of Workplace Gallery
Dreams are mysteriously vivid yet always fleeting. Their content drifts through a series of dualities in which the quotidian exists alongside the otherworldly and the abstract merges with the exact. Such tensions are explored by painter Laura Lancaster within her solo exhibition at Workplace Gallery, In Dreams. Lancaster pushes the formal boundaries of oil painting to imbue her new body of work with pictorial illusion; these paintings of anonymous figures set against natural landscapes invite viewers into what feels like a hazy daydream.
The largest paintings dominate the walls upon entering Workplace. Four figures relax at the foot of a craggy coastline cliff in Visitors (2024). Contrastingly, across the room, Recalled (2024) captures a candid moment between two girls in matching smock dresses wrapping their arms around one another as they precariously sit on top of a sea boulder. The faces of all the figures are enticingly blurred, their bodies enveloped by their surroundings. I peered and squinted at these paintings to distinguish limbs from pebbles and, in doing so, I fell further into the scenes of bygone eras. It was as though these images lived deep within my subconscious and I was casting my mind back to grasp these memories.
Lancaster’s romantic depictions of a not-so-distant past are developed from black and white photographs found in flea markets, online auctions and junk shops. Through digital manipulation and colourisation, these monochromatic vintage images have been vibrantly translated onto Lancaster's canvases. Her uncurbed but considered swipes and drips of paint add elements of dynamism and energy into the exhibited artworks, treading the fine line bordering whimsy and the uncanny. In Dreams breathes new life into discarded, forgotten and archival keepsakes.
Along with this comes a palpable sense of intimacy that reverberates throughout the exhibition. Lancaster implicates her audience as voyeurs of private moments belonging to her anonymous subjects. On the lower ground floor, the painting To Be Waiting (2024) captures the sight of a young girl taking pause to glance at her reflection whilst in a rowing boat. She is completely oblivious to our prying eyes. We note her vulnerability as she revels in her serenity. We shouldn’t be staring; we know that we shouldn’t be staring. Yet, this somewhat perverse feeling is washed over by the thrill of remaining covert. Well, that is until the voyeur realises that they too are being watched.
Laura Lancaster, To Be Waiting, 2024. Woods, 2024.
Installation photographs courtesy of Workplace Gallery
When walking through the exhibition, it becomes apparent that some of Lancaster’s subjects have taken notice of their captive audience. The aptly named Sightings (2024) poignantly captures the moment a woman begins to flee after discovering a spy hidden amongst the nearby overgrowth. Elsewhere, a gaggle of girls glance back at an unwanted spectator who has rudely disturbed their conversation in Woods (2024). By breaking the fourth wall, the audience has been unmasked as the snoop in the bushes and the unwelcome visitor in the forest. As the figures in Lancaster’s paintings stare back, we can no longer feign ignorance in relation to the result of our voyeuristic tendencies. Suddenly, these quaint paintings of candid scenes are tinged with unease: the dream has come to an abrupt end.
From left to right: Laura Lancaster, Long Gone, 2024,
Laura Lancaster, Sightings, 2024
Lancaster does not aspire to issue neat conclusions in the exhibition. Rather, she has approached In Dreams with an openness towards a ceaseless diversity of interpretations. Her paintings act as vehicles that transport her audience into dreamlike worlds; it then becomes the responsibility of the viewer to develop the rest of the plot. Yet, these charming moments are transient as Lancaster matches the ephemeral nature of dreams through her use of perspective. As we come around from our daze, we are left longing for the beauty we once found in dreams.
Lara Alake is a London-based writer and arts professional.