Insight. Rachel Valdés

Insight, presented by Mayoral, is an exhibition by Rachel Valdés (Havana, 1990) that entices the audience into a perceptual inner journey, inspired by meditation – closing one’s eyes to see within. The artist suggests the exhibition be experienced in three phases, where light, colour and reflection serve as a gateway to awareness and presence.

Recognised by her work in paintings, installations and public spaces, Valdés combines her optics research and formal rigour with spirituality and symbolism. Her work halts the rhythm of everyday life, fostering deep attentiveness in which the audience becomes an active part of the space.

The exhibition is separated into three “blinks”, inferred as movements between what is visible and what is within:

Blink #1 – Voyage into the colour within

Broad chromatic gradations in reds, blues, and yellows encourage silent contemplation in which colour reveals itself as both energy and mood. Inspired by theories of physics and the symbolism of Carl Gustav Jung, the artist transforms colour into a perceptual threshold and an introspective device.

Blink#2 – Inner self-perception

A hall of mirrors and LED screens form a tunnel of light in which the image is multiplied and fragmented. Drawing on her immersive projects in public spaces, the piece elicits self-observation: seeing and recognising oneself, and inhabiting perception as a conscious experience.

Blink #3 – Inhabiting the centre

A mirrored pyramid and a selection of sketches and photographs engender an intimate environment of introspection. The mirror acts as a metaphor for the mind: everything is reflected, nothing is retained. The experience concludes with a clarifying space, where one’s gaze returns to the centre.

Insight suggests opening one’s eyes to the inside: piercing through colour, listening to reflection and, in one small movement, discovering that inner vision is the way to return to the self.

Nerea Ubieto