Rachele Maistrello's 'Ordinary Wounds' at Artopia, Milan

Rachele Maistrello (Vittorio Veneto, 1986) presents 'Ordinary Wounds 平凡的伤痕' at Artopia gallery in Milan, running until January 31, 2025. The solo exhibition centers on Gao Yue, a fictional alter ego of the artist, and the 'Diamonds' cycle blending scientific inquiry and photographic invention to explore trauma, the unconscious, and the transformation of ordinary spaces into dreamlike realms. The show unfolds across two floors and three chapters: 'Green Diamond' (2018–2021), 'Blue Diamond,' and the new 'Black Diamond' (2024–2025). 'Green Diamond' was supported by the Museo Inside Out in Beijing and includes photographs and the artist's book 'Gao Yue 高跃.' 'Blue Diamond' was recently shown at PAC in Milan and MAXXI in Rome, exploring transcendence through synesthetic experiences. 'Black Diamond' addresses geological depth as a metaphor for the unconscious, examining trauma's behavioral, familial, and biological impacts. The video 'Darklines' (2024) features the voice of Fen Lin, a colleague of Gao Yue, recounting involvement in a secret protocol on intergenerational trauma. Maistrello uses analog photography with intense flash and two-dimensional cut-outs from the web to create visual and semantic short-circuits. Curator Elena Forin, who has long followed the artist, notes the work probes truth and fiction, misunderstanding, the incomplete, and the relationship between photographic evidence and subliminal space.