Shadowscapes: Heaney, JMW Turner and Quantum

What happens when we use quantum as a tool to better understand ourselves, to explore philosophical and psychological concepts or to probe the depths and complexity of what could lie beneath a painting's surface?  

At Orleans House Gallery, artist and PhD quantum physicist Libby Heaney weaves a universe of multidimensional connections. Discover JMW Turner and psychologist C.G Jung through the lens of quantum physics.  

Richley layered, Shadowscapes explores our vast, glorious, wild (like nature) emotions. The shadow self, a term coined by C.G Jung to represent the parts of ourselves we deem unacceptable, and therefore unconsciously suppress, is at the heart of this exhibition. Dissecting and investigating her own shadow self, Heaney delves into Turner’s paintings, reflecting on how they feel and the imagery they summon. She treats Turner’s paintings as contemporary psychological landscapes, holding light and shadow at the same time, coexisting as our emotions do. 

“Accessing our shadow selves is important as when shadows are not in our awareness, we tend to project them onto different groups and nature causing polarisation, domination and division.” – Libby Heaney   

Using quantum as a prism through which to experience the world, Heaney engages with the non-binary, plural and entangled. For Shadowscapes she has coded a bespoke instrument based on digital images of Turner’s paintings and data from IBM’s publicly available quantum computers. An interactive projection uses a live webcam feed and stereo sound to explore how our shadow selves are projected onto others. Interact with this shadowy projection and listen and feel Turner’s paintings in the ever evolving digital-quantum sound installation.  

Alongside these works are Heaney’s watercolour paintings and the Turner paintings that have inspired her reflections: The Vision of Jacob’s Ladder (?) (c.1830), The Hero of a Hundred Fights (1800–10, reworked 1847) and Rocky Bay with Figures (1827–30). 

Through Shadowscapes you are invited to explore the layers of quantum, paint and our emotions.