ABOUT THE EXHIBITION - LA PIEL QUE ARDE (The Skin That Burns)

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Based on an attentive observation of her own reality, Ethel Coppieters' work analyzes the collective experiences and moods of the generation she belongs to. In the manner of a self-diagnosis, the women with the penetrating gazes depicted in the foregrounds may in fact be looking at themselves in the mirror. All alone, the figures seem to be in an introspective state but they look distinctly more defiant when presented in groups, occupying most of the canvas, reminding the viewer the willingness of the artist to talk about intimacy and self-love, about self-care and empowerment, but also about the intimate relationship that each of us keep with ourselves.

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The voluptuous, luminous and round bodies, stand out for the warm and fiery colour of the orange and reddish skins that occupy the larger part of the canvas. In those absent faces the viewer can perceive the vestige of trauma and pain, the insolent attitude triggered by the disappointments that any woman may have encountered along the way. The contrast between the expressiveness of the faces and the scarce anatomical definition of the bodies, contributes to emphasize the mood, character, and personality of each of these women above any physical appearance. The backgrounds against which these women are presented, sometimes abstract, sometimes contextual, do not always provide concrete information but function as a reminder that each individual is the protagonist of her own story beyond the collective narrative.

Summing up, the everyday scenes that Coppieters draws connects to form the memory of a common experience, producing a dialogue with the viewer that starts from intimacy to universality of a shared experience. 

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