PREAMBLE
My work originated from an analysis of the object as a trace of the self in relation to physical or mental spaces. I explored the notion of stationary accumulation by enclosing objects and concepts, creating a kind of still image intended to counteract the incessant flow of imagery that permeates contemporary life. Objects and spaces that may appear mundane assumed form and acquired meaning, transcending their commonplace associations.
Over time, I felt the need to remove overtly referential and object-based elements, which had become closely tied to already historicized artistic practices. A quasi-iconoclastic impulse led me to identify a minimal visual alphabet as my personal site of reflection and creation.
The more complex structures—assemblages of objects staged as mute, everyday tableaus—gave way to archetypal figures and icon-signs of almost elemental nature. These visual “alchemies,” at times bearing a childlike quality, allowed the stereotype to regain meaning, blending with the search for a new visual sign. This exploration led me to a “borderland” where immediate consumption is denied and the image resists the visual cannibalism that characterizes contemporary society.
From a technical standpoint, recycled materials, industrial wood, and plaster have always formed the foundational elements of my artistic practice.
Surface treatments, executed with almost obsessive precision, have enabled me to distance the material from its original state, transforming it into something else.
I continuously engage with a form of three-dimensionality on the verge of collapse—my works teeter on the edge of returning to the plane as pure surface. It is through staging that they seize space and acquire physical presence.
Maria Luisa Imperiali Works & Words 