Sarah Jérôme's 'Le mur invisible' exhibition at Fondation Bullukian explores isolation and emotional barriers

Sarah Jérôme presents 'Le mur invisible' at Fondation Bullukian in Lyon, curated by Emmanuel Morin and Fanny Robin. The exhibition runs from March 20, 2026 to July 27, 2026, featuring paintings that explore themes of isolation, emotional barriers, and internal journeys. Jérôme's intense palette depicts complex emotional landscapes where feelings both traverse and entrap. Her canvases are bathed in a raw yet enveloping light that creates malleable material sliding between tree trunks and infiltrating foliage. The artist was the third recipient of the Bullukian-Fontevraud Residency, where her immersive stay at Fontevraud created a paradoxical experience oscillating between isolation and rediscovered inner freedom. Her work references a heroine from a book who finds herself cut off from the world by a transparent, impassable wall. Sunlight rays accompany characters in their inner journeys, giving each gesture emotional depth. Shadows, halos, sudden flashes, and afterimages characterize her visual language. The exhibition includes 'Aura,' a 2025 oil painting on tracing paper measuring 152.5 x 120 cm, courtesy of H Gallery. Jérôme's painting becomes palpable as a force in tension that lodges in flesh, impregnates landscapes, and confers dramatic density to every detail. The exhibition represents a suspended moment in a historically charged location where buried memories constantly resurface.