Carmen Belean’s new exhibition draws inspiration from the renowned 1929 essay A Room of One’s Own and reveals the close connection of the artist to literature. Virginia Woolf’s seminal work continues to resonate as a beacon of feminist thought, casting light on the intricate tapestry of women’s voices and creative expression to this day.

Almost 100 years later, Belean enters into a dialogue with the revolutionary British writer offering, through her craft, a personal response to her own living experience as a woman artist.

Belean’s own figurative “room” are all the spaces in which she gives freedom to express her artistic voice.

By portraying mostly lonely female protagonists whom she identifies with, in wide, hypaethral spaces, Belean deals with themes such as loneliness, melancholy, or simply the experiencing of life, alongside other moods that are often not easy to define.

The need for intimacy is strongly felt in the works presented by Belean, as if the women inhibiting the spaces she represents are hiding in plain sight, shielded by the security of the artist’s gaze, a woman’s gaze unconditioned by any potential sexual or idealized demeanor.

Belean has taken Woolf’s words to heart and created compelling works that explore, through their compositions, the experiences and challenges of women in a world that has too often denied them the space and means to thrive. By alluring us into her aesthetically pleasing scenes, Belean prompts us to see these settings and the women inhabiting them anew.