The term Chiaroscuro usually refers to Renaissance paintings (e.g., Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio), that use dramatic, high contrast lighting, and a dynamic diagonal composition formed by a light source from above, representing the Divinity. In these powerful works, the light strongly defines the form.

I coined my own term, "Chiarobscuro", that signifies the intentional casting of darkness or shadows, which in turn obscures the form, and breaks up the composition into lit fragments and dark shapes. To really understand light, I must also understand it's opposite, the darkness.
 
These works intersected with my interest in "inner and outer" and "spatial tension". Some works cast their shadows onto other objects in a different parts of the picture plane creating a perspective.