June 18-22, 2025
Volta Basel
Lechbinska Gallery presents a contemporary exploration of change. Immersed in the scent of the thundercloud, memories and emotions rise and dissipate. Across diverse media, the ephemeral nature of clouds becomes tangible, unfolding through scent, form, and fleeting impressions.
Enveloped by earthy notes of geosmin, the dampness of oakmoss, and a cool touch of violet leaf, artist-perfumer Bharti Lalwani invites us to a sensory experience of the Thunder Cloud. Filling Lechbinska Gallery with the powerful static between air, moisture, and electricity, this scent captures the calm embrace of clouds before the storm. Clouds, as ephemeral as scent, are a universal symbol of change across many cultures, representing transformation, impermanence, and renewal. In Eastern philosophies, they remind us of life's fleeting nature, while in Western traditions, they symbolize mood and transition.
In Taoist philosophy, clouds are viewed as the representation of yin-yang, or the harmony between opposites. Exhibited at Lechbinska Gallery, Esther Brinkmann’s cloud-like brooches reflect this balance through her poetic approach to duality. Her Rainy cloud (2023) brooch, delicately adorned with Baroque pearls, suggests raindrops or the lightning flashes thunderclouds.
This balance is also present in Luo Mingjun’s paintings, where clouds move beyond the classical Chinese mountain motif. Mingjun reimagines the cloud through the genre of portraiture, evoking the flux between her Chinese roots and Swiss foundation. In Yelim Park’s calligraphic paintings, the serendipitous energy of clouds is captured, while Eun Yeoung Lee’s ceramic sculpture, the Clouds of Sajik-dong (2024), engages with the memory of forgotten objects. In their representation, clouds bridge memories and experiences that linger beyond the visible.
In Western art, clouds have long held divine significance. In ancient mythology, Zeus cast lightning from the thundercloud, a symbol of divinity echoed in Christian depictions of God’s presence and across religious Renaissance paintings. The overwhelming power of natural forces emerges in the sublime visions of Romanticism, and in the modern era, the sublime finds new life in abstraction. At Lechbinska Gallery, Swiss artists Ursula Palla and Bignia Wehrli explore the transient and ephemeral nature of the sky in the landscape. In Palla’s Cumulus (2023) sculpture, tension arises from the interplay between clear crystal glass and its dark counterpoints. Wehrli’s work captures fleeting natural signs, positioning her as a quiet observer of nature’s delicate shifts.
In Taoist philosophy, clouds are viewed as the representation of yin-yang, or the harmony between opposites. Exhibited at Lechbinska Gallery, Esther Brinkmann’s cloud-like brooches reflect this balance through her poetic approach to duality. Her Rainy cloud (2023) brooch, delicately adorned with Baroque pearls, suggests raindrops or the lightning flashes thunderclouds.
This balance is also present in Luo Mingjun’s paintings, where clouds move beyond the classical Chinese mountain motif. Mingjun reimagines the cloud through the genre of portraiture, evoking the flux between her Chinese roots and Swiss foundation. In Yelim Park’s calligraphic paintings, the serendipitous energy of clouds is captured, while Eun Yeoung Lee’s ceramic sculpture, the Clouds of Sajik-dong (2024), engages with the memory of forgotten objects. In their representation, clouds bridge memories and experiences that linger beyond the visible.
In Western art, clouds have long held divine significance. In ancient mythology, Zeus cast lightning from the thundercloud, a symbol of divinity echoed in Christian depictions of God’s presence and across religious Renaissance paintings. The overwhelming power of natural forces emerges in the sublime visions of Romanticism, and in the modern era, the sublime finds new life in abstraction. At Lechbinska Gallery, Swiss artists Ursula Palla and Bignia Wehrli explore the transient and ephemeral nature of the sky in the landscape. In Palla’s Cumulus (2023) sculpture, tension arises from the interplay between clear crystal glass and its dark counterpoints. Wehrli’s work captures fleeting natural signs, positioning her as a quiet observer of nature’s delicate shifts.
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