I dreamt the entire planet was flooding.
"The Lake Rose to the Sky" is the name of my solo exhibition at Arroniz gallery in Mexico City that proposes flooding both as image and metaphor. And not only as a catastrophe.
The Lake Rose to the Sky
Emilio Chapela
I dreamt the entire planet was flooding. Water surged forward, reclaiming space. I saw rivers overflowing and torrential rains. Water spilled through rooftops and hallways. The sea moved inland, submerging houses, schools, cities, farmland, and mountains—until everything was covered.
I understand this dream in two ways. On one hand, a global vision: the total flood as a premonition of planetary collapse and climate change. A chronicle of a death foretold, unfolding in fast motion and in real time. A vision of despair.
On the other hand, the dream felt deeply personal—like a flood within me. It began as a journey through my own body, saturating it before spilling outward again. I felt the flood expand through my veins, skin, stomach, and head. I felt full, radiant. I woke up anxious about the future of the planet, but also intoxicated with emotion.
This exhibition is the result of that dream. It speaks of floods, of hydric rhythms and solar energy. It also addresses the contradictions of Mexico City—a metropolis built atop a vast lake that no longer exists, yet still holds memory. The lake, like us, chilangos, remembers through the body.
The exhibition is also a personal reflection. My father often consulted the I Ching—his compass in times of important decisions. After his passing, I inherited the book and its practice. It now guides me.
I cast the coins a few months ago and received Hexagram Kuai—Breakthrough—which signifies a rupture followed by resolution. It evokes the image of a lake rising into the sky, a torrential downpour, a river overflowing and releasing its pressure. The text suggests new beginnings—a rupture, then clarity. A flood.
This exhibition proposes the flood as both image and metaphor. Not only as catastrophe, but as a transformative force—one that cleanses, mingles, reconciles, and compels us to reimagine the world. The lake rises into the sky, the rain falls, we are inundated—and the sky shines again.
The works in the exhibition reference great floods or suggest subtle flows of water—layering, colliding, diverted, or stalled. Kuai is the name of a new series of paintings premiered in this show. These works explore hydrodynamic forces translated into geometric forms that either communicate or obstruct one another.
The Emergence photo series reflects on light as an emergent phenomenon—appearing only under specific and unrepeatable conditions, like a flash of lightning or a rainbow.
The exhibition includes additional works that speak to floods, deluge, and climate change. At the same time, they point inward—to personal intensities, to inner overflows that might be crisis, transformation, or emotional fullnes.
