Project Room: Glimpses of a Sparkling World: Morag Caister
Forthcoming exhibition
-
RHODES proudly presents Glimpses of a Sparkling World, a solo exhibition of new work by award winning British portrait artist Morag Caister.
Comprising a series of intimate, dreamlike portraits painted over six months, the exhibition invites viewers into spaces of quiet yearning, imagination, and emotional transformation.
Known for her evocative, psychologically rich figurative work, Caister draws on painting’s capacity to hold both vulnerability and strength. Her subjects appear suspended in moments of reverie or gentle disorientation, caught between interior and exterior worlds. In this new body of work, the artist explores the idea of imagined refuge; the inward landscapes we conjure to navigate emotional complexity, grief, or longing. There is a non-linear sense of time, a delicate play between tenderness and volatility, as each figure gazes toward the intangible.The paintings are marked by a nuanced attention to shadow, gesture, and posture, framing the body as a site of dreaming and transformation. Caister beckons forward the quieter parts of the self, honouring the act of wishing and the fragile pursuit of elsewhere.Working on both paper and canvas, Caister’s work is instantly recognisable for its loose, textured brushwork and sensitive use of negative space. Her restrained, delicate colour palette draws focus to the figures themselves, their body language, quiet emotion, and unspoken presence.Glimpses of a Sparkling World marks Caister’s second exhibition with RHODES and continues the development of her distinctive practice, revealing a more vulnerable, introspective approach to portrait painting.Morag Caister (b. 1992, UK) is a British painter recognised for her emotionally charged portraiture, which explores identity, introspection, and the quiet complexities of daily life. Caister rose to national prominence after winning Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, leading to a commission to paint Sir Lenny Henry. Her work has been exhibited at major UK institutions including the Royal Academy of Arts and the National Portrait Gallery, and is held in prominent public and private collections such as the National Gallery and Soho House.In recent years, Caister has received significant critical acclaim. She was awarded the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize in 2023, and was shortlisted for both the Contemporary British Painting Prize and the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award in 2024. She also emerged as a candidate for Forbes 30 Under 30: Europe in Art & Culture, and was named one of thirty creatives in the Evening Standard’s Art Power List 2023.Glimpses of a Sparkling World will be on display in RHODES Project Room 4th - 26th June 2025, with a Private View with the artist held on Thursday 3rd July, 6-8pm. -
-
Selected works
-
-
Collecting
-
-
-
-
Subscribe →
Join our mailing list for updates about our artists, exhibitions, events, and more.
