Sentire: You Are the April Sky
16th April, 2025 – 31st May, 2025
Upsilon Gallery
64 Grosvenor Street
London W1K 3JH
Upsilon Gallery, London is delighted to announce Sentire: You Are the April Sky, an exhibition celebrating the work of six extraordinary international female artists, which will run from 16 April – 31 May. The exhibition revolves around the concept of an ephemeral moment; a fleeting second that encapsulates the essence of the feminine experience. Artworks by Ava Grauls, Diane Chappalley, Epona Smith, Evie Mae Jacobs, Guan Guan and Hannah Lim shift between abstraction and figuration, exploring the delicate balance between intuition, corporeality, perception, and identity.
Image courtesy of Upsilon Gallery
At the heart of this exhibition is the word ‘sentire’ (to feel), as defined by Italian writer and poet Alda Merini – a direct and deeply intimate experience of existence, often in contrast to the external world, yet inseparably connected to it. Lin Huiyin’s poetry, “You Are the April Sky in This World,” speaks of the woman as a force of renewal, warmth, and intuition – further echoing the concept of Upsilon’s Spring exhibition.
Each artwork displayed in this group show is a fragment of this moment—where a woman, through her sensitivity and intuition, reconnects with her surroundings, emotions, and body. ‘Sentire’ is never detached from the body; it is through corporeality that feminine intuition manifests, finding its own space and time in the world.
The Poems that Inspired the Show:
I like the verb “to feel”
I like the verb “to feel”…
To feel the sound of the sea,
to feel its scent.
To feel the rain’s sound as it wets your lips,
to feel a pen tracing feelings on a blank page.
To feel the scent of the one you love,
to hear their voice
and to feel them with your heart.
To feel is the verb of emotions,
you lie down on the back of the world
and you feel..
Alda Merini (1931-2009), renowned Italian writer and poet.
You Are the April Sky in This World
“You are the blooming trees in spring,
The swallows whispering under the eaves –
You are love, warmth, and hope,
You are the April sky in this world.”
Lin Huiyin / 林徽因(1904–1955), the first female architect in modern China, writer, and poet.
About the Artists:
Ava Grauls (b.1982) is a South African / Belgian artist based in London. Her work explores speculative questions regarding nationalised legitimacy, cultural legacy, and environmental in fluences on identity from a geographic perspective. Her practice is predominantly painting and performance. Grauls was born in South Africa during apartheid. Her family moved to Belgium when she was a child and further relocated to a British asbestos mine in Eswatini. Her practice has been shaped by these experiences, directing her to question forms of influence and education that manage memory. Her paintings are abstracted from her research into the history of countries and the map-makers that have come to dominate these spaces. Grauls’ paintings and films have been exhibited in London, Scotland, Lisbon and Japan.
Diane Chappalley (b. 1991) was born in Switzerland and lives and works in London. She creates figurative landscapes in oil paint as well as ceramic sculptures that draw on transitional experiences of death and birth, loss and love, trauma and resilience. She addresses themes that are both personal and inherently universal. In her large canvases, among vast washes of colours that suggest both soil and skin tones, the human figures are still – as if they are carved from stone; statues lost in time.
Diane Chappalley’s sculptures, deeply personal and evocative, draw upon the rich symbolism of the Sacred Heart to narrate her journey as a mother confronting her child’s congenital heart condition. The Sacred Heart, a central symbol in Christian iconography, represents profound love, compassion, and enduring suffering. By integrating this emblem into her work, Chappelley channels her intimate experiences, transforming personal adversity into universal expressions of hope and resilience. Her art stands as a testament to the enduring power of maternal love, intertwining personal narrative with a potent symbol deeply rooted in Catholic tradition.
Image courtesy of Upsilon Gallery
Epona Smith (b.1990) is a jewellery designer and hand engraver. Each engraving carries the rhythm of tradition, blending European craftsmanship with an Asian sensibility, where every mark tells a quiet yet powerful story. Epona’s engraving is a dialogue between past and present. Inspired by the fluidity of calligraphic strokes and the depth of Florentine ornamentation, her work reimagines silver as a vessel of cultural storytelling. “My work is not only to integrate the beauty of European and Asian cultures, but also to rede fine the way of storytelling of traditional culture and create a new aesthetic.”
Evie Mae Jacobs (b.1995) is a Fine Artist based in London. With a vivid colour palette and soft brushwork her compositions are often characterised by a sense of stillness and nostalgia. By leaning into materiality, Evie’s paintings are an immersive interaction between texture, sensation and human connection. She presents an observational stance at intimacy and aloneness, with figures that may be sharing a tender moment or are by themselves, lost in thought.
Yingqi Guan / Guan Guan (b.1997) is a London-based artist and contemporary jewellery curator whose practice encompasses sculpture, installation, performance art, and contemporary jewellery. Her work is distinguished by its critical narratives and visual tension, often delving into social, corporeal, cultural, and feminist themes through meticulous craftsmanship, dark humour, and monumental scales.
She possesses a keen ability to observe everyday objects, reinterpreting them into a unique visual language that results in dramatic, exaggerated forms. In 2022, Guan earned her Master’s degree from the Royal College of Art’s Jewellery & Metal programme. The following year, she established her London-based studio, “eye 爱 I”. Her creative philosophy centres on three core concepts: eye (observation), love (emotion), and I (subjective consciousness). Through sculpture, installation, and contemporary jewellery, she continues to engage with the modern era, offering critical reflection and cultural commentary.
Image courtesy of Upsilon Gallery
Hannah Lim (b. 1998)’s artistic practice is deeply influenced by her mixed Singaporean and British heritage, leading her to explore the colonial connotations inherent in the relationship between East and West. Her research and creative endeavours engage with themes such as Orientalism and its connection to Chinoiserie – an 18th-century aesthetic movement where elements of Chinese design were reinterpreted to suit European tastes. Lim aims to reimagine and reclaim designs associated with Chinoiserie, transforming them from their historically problematic colonial undertones into shared cultural expressions. Through her work, Lim invites viewers to reconsider historical narratives and encourages a dialogue that respects and celebrates the complexities of cultural exchange.
Sentire: You Are the April Sky opens on the 16th of April, 2025 until the 31st of May, 2025 at Upsilon Gallery
©2025 Upsilon Gallery
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