Homeless, 2007
I thought of urban landscapes as places filled with protective containers.
An exterior that can be shown, and an interior that hides and protects us.
“Being left outside,” when places close—both literally and metaphorically—is like sleeping rough.
Discomfort grows, reflected in the closed glass of a window.
Innocent lies, 2007
Ecstasy? A transcendent moment in the classical sense. Leaving oneself behind and letting the body wander.
To me, it’s the power of thought sparked by words, by the stories we invent, that are told to us, and that we can tell.
I recall Mao Zedong’s faded “utopia,” where he mentioned a kind of contraption, wearable like a backpack, that would let us fly above the overcrowded cities. Next to this image, I place Brother Joseph of Cupertino, who was said to float a few meters off the ground—I imagine at night… And who wouldn’t want to be a glowing firefly, even for just one night?
Ecstasy as pneuma moving through the body and slipping away—a word as short and futile as it is evocative.
Pleasure concentrated in the moment of a unique, self-referential vision… that scent I cannot describe to you.
Maria Luisa Imperiali Works & Words 