Two artists from different poles – abstract and figurative – are exhibiting in Mortal/Immortal at Hoxton’s Signal Gallery.

The figure is represented in all its reality and mortality by Royal Scottish Academy artist Crawfurd Adamson.

“This collection echoes a reality of a figure in tension,” says Crawfurd. “Tension being a part of all of our existence. The poses make interesting designs across the canvas which, along with the shapes created by the direct light, form a composition that echoes the transience of tension and balance within our lives.”

In contrast to Crawfurd’s lonely figures, former sculptor turned artist Barbara Steinberg is preoccupied with other worlds and their gods.

“Bacchus and Pan are both gods of wild countryside and wild emotions. These pictures represent the encounters between them and the landscape in which it takes place.”

What unites these two artists is their love of oil painting. Crawfurd has a purposeful technique of applying “thick buttery paint” and Barbara “paints thinly, using several layers of glaze”.

Mortal/Immortal exhibits from Friday until Saturday, February 13.