AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
opening 04.06.2025
dates 05.06.2025-30.06.2025
Chiara Capellini’s work takes shape from a profound reflection on the relationship between art, quantum physics, and consciousness. The artist’s new site-specific installation AS ABOVE, SO BELOW, on display at the Liceu Camões in Lisbon from June 4 to 30, 2025, stems from the principle that what appears empty, lacking form and substance, is in fact a densely packed field of possibilities. A vision inspired by the principles of quantum physics and the Hermetic concept As above, so below — suggesting a correspondence between what happens in the microcosm and what manifests in the macrocosm.
In the quantum vacuum, even when there seems to be nothing, so-called virtual particles emerge: fluctuations, oscillations, energy fields. It is an only-apparently empty space, always in turmoil. Similarly, in the mind, even when we manage to remove every thought, something remains. A subtle residue, but still present.
Through the use of surfaces and installations suspended on two levels, Capellini constructs environments that change in relation to the act and the point of observation. The six large canvases featured in the exhibition serve as a metaphor for the relationship between the visible and the invisible. Their black reverse absorbs light, while the front opens up to brightness. This dual nature allows the canvases to embody the duality observed in quantum physics, where matter interacts and changes through the act of observation.
Some of the scientific theories that influence Capellini’s work — such as those of Anton Zeilinger, Max Tegmark, Roger Penrose, and David Chalmers — propose that the universe is structured not only by matter and energy, but also by information and consciousness. The artist embraces these perspectives as cues to imagine new ways of representing reality, seeking connections between what we perceive and what escapes our sight.
If consciousness is truly a fundamental force of the universe, then it could represent the invisible link between all manifestations of reality, unifying the quantum world and the macroscopic cosmos.
AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
Curated by Federica Elena
in collaboration with Zuecca Projects
Opening: June 4th, 2025 | 7PM – 10PM
Location: Ginásio Liceu Camões, Praça José Fontana, Lisbon
On view: June 4–30, 2025
