‘Chinese Horse’ (c. 1977) is a still life painting of a jade horse figurine, which Gibbons borrowed from a friend. The legs of the horse have since been broken, but here they are activated as if galloping through a landscape. Other beloved collected objects, such as a stone head and a shell, are in the works but they almost blend into the scene in layered, expressive brushstrokes. The painting moves beyond a domestic interior to a more magic realism dreamscape. Artist Lucy Stein notes ‘In Chinese Horse, the luminescent green of the jade horse sings out in a minor key. This lichen green shimmers through her most brilliant paintings which are slowly built-up palimpsests of accomplishment and rigour.’