The qualities of solitude, silence and stillness are not anathema to the craft of the landscapist, but central to the required vision, they are qualities inherent in the vista. Miriam Jarrs’ exemplary paintings reinforces this perspective in her new show Gleaming h at the Sesame Gallery, Angel. Yet within this stillness there is a movement of sorts, Jarrs’ work remains true to its own inner forces, contains a coherence of elements – there is a subtle gravity, a breeze blows gently off stage binding the entire collection, the skies swarm with a green that is oddly restful.

Taking its cues stylistically from Japanese art,  there is something of the sumptuousness of fabric, of painted silk, and of oriental landscapes on these works. Thematically set in a twilight, playful world one gets the feeling of looking down the wrong end of a pair of binoculars, a  world similar to ours but transfigured and rearranged by the subconscious. This magic realism, slightly sickly and occasionally saccharine is emphasised by the palette; there is a surfeit of blue/red in any of her pictures, the green is vibrant, thick and rich, the yellow, thin and pale like the colour of straw. There’s also an underwater ethereal feel personified by the reeds, the swirling liquid green skies.

A cord motif appears and reappears throughout the paintings, a signifier of humanity perhaps amongst the altered state of Jarrs’ nature. Something manmade artificial contrasting against something imagined, dreamt – it makes for an interesting juxtaposition – or perhaps the cord is a child’s string attached to a balloon that has become a whole globe, an entire world of fantasy and narrative exchange?

In many ways Jarrs’ work serves as a window, not only on what you see or are shown but what you bring, as audience to the equation. For some, these pictures could appear bland and overly cosmetic, to others they will be redolent of childhood imaginings a doorstep to another world, whilst many will appreciate the meditative tone and pleasing aestheticism. The more analytically minded will point to the association with modern nature painters Doig, or perhaps some of the landscapes of Laura Owens. However the linage represented here could stretch all the way back to Gauguin; indeed a piece entitled Something Happened in the gallery catalogue seems to affirm the influence.

Subjectively, taken as a whole there’s a dreamy surrealism about this exhibition. Surrealism without all the jagged edges of the nightmare, and the mental instability and derangement – a calm state of trance, an almost narcotic consciousness that relaxes and washes over you.

But there are many ways to interpret personally this work and your relationship to it. Ultimately that should start with a visit to Sesame Gallery, for you to make up your own mind. And to see if you appreciate the subtle mysteries, the silence and the dreams of Jarrs’ landscapes.