Claire Arkas presents her 14th solo exhibition at Cihangir Ark Kültür, running from January 7 to February 6, 2026, bringing together works that reinterpret natural and urban landscapes through the fragmented nature of light. The exhibition, titled “Işığın Aralığı / The Interval of Light,” features 37 works by the artist.
In her 14th solo exhibition, Claire Arkas draws viewers away from grand narratives and invites them into brief, quiet moments where light intensifies. The exhibition presents a selection in which the artist continues her engagement with the themes of nature, water, architecture, and the figure, yet this time shifts her focus from the center of the scene to its peripheral details. Rather than broad panoramas, Arkas’ paintings view the world through small fragments: the broken reflection of a chandelier, a few plants hanging over a wall, or a narrow street.
Layers of Nature, Water, and the City
This approach becomes particularly evident in works centered on water and urban themes. On the surfaces of pools and lakes, light transforms into fractured reflections that shimmer along with the movement of the water; instead of a clear image, a fragmented visuality emerges, suggesting the slow passage of time. Glass surfaces and shop windows function like permeable memories between interior and exterior spaces; orderly displays, passersby, and reflections overlap on the same plane, creating a calm yet dense sense of the city where light and depth form layered compositions.
Figures and the Language of Color
Rather than conveying dramatic narratives, the figures embody particular states of presence. Seated or rotating bodies, olive trunks, and pruned branches do not amplify emotion; rather, they reveal the silent density of simply “being there” under a certain light. The artist’s use of color, texture, and pattern underscores her dialogue with the post-Impressionist legacy. Plant textures, fabrics, stone walls, and reflections sit side by side on the surface, recalling the richly patterned fields frequently used by painters such as Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard.
Line as Memory
The drawings and works on paper included in the exhibition foreground the artist’s commitment to line. Architectural facades, interior views, and street scenes are completed through various techniques based on on-site drawings; here, line is not a preliminary sketch but a fully realized thought that carries the memory of the painting itself.
“The Interval of Light” approaches Claire Arkas’ practice not merely as a representation of what is visible, but as a way of thinking about seeing itself. The artist focuses on that brief, silent interval where light touches the world, inviting viewers to linger within this space and slow their gaze.
