Maria Teresa Ortoleva's Dream-Inspired Installation in Milan
Maria Teresa Ortoleva (Milan, 1990; lives in London) presents an installation at Galleria Luca Tommasi in Milan that explores the intersection of sleep, dreams, science, and fantasy. The space is conceived as a "royal road to the unconscious," cut by natural light, with sinuous colored plexiglass structures whose shapes trace electroencephalographic waves recorded during sleep, dreaming, or imaginative activity. Archival material and preparatory drawings on the walls serve as marginal notes and text itself. The work blends analytical rigor with aesthetic sublimation, reason and reverie, investigating the intimacy of imagination and questioning whether the incommensurable can be measured. The exhibition references the Greek myth that dreams were children of sleep, born through Morpheus, son of Hypnos (god of sleep) and Nyx (goddess of night), and the 1953 discovery of REM sleep by Aserinsky and Kleitman.
Key facts
- Maria Teresa Ortoleva is the artist, born in Milan in 1990, lives in London.
- The installation is at Galleria Luca Tommasi in Milan.
- The work uses plexiglass structures shaped like EEG waves from sleep, dreaming, and imagination.
- The exhibition space is described as a 'royal road to the unconscious'.
- Archival material and preparatory drawings are displayed on the walls.
- The piece references the Greek myth of dreams as children of sleep (Morpheus, Hypnos, Nyx).
- The 1953 discovery of REM sleep by Aserinsky and Kleitman is cited.
- The artist questions whether the incommensurable can be measured.
Entities
Artists
- Maria Teresa Ortoleva
Institutions
- Galleria Luca Tommasi
- Artribune
Locations
- Milan
- Italy
- London
- United Kingdom