2013/2014 Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna of Rome
Materials: stone (travertine), modelled land, lawn, sound, perfumed essences
Dimensions: m 32 x 24
The first “Garden of the Soul”, a permanent outdoor, green work by Maria Dompè, finds a Roman consecration in the external gardens of GNAM (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna of Rome).
Each “meeting” with Dompè creates sensorial suggestiveness. What dominates is the perfect symbiosis of the space, without deceiving the essence, without exalting the borders by enlarging them metaphysically. From an artistically “simple vision”, the work, primarily, sends a relevant message. In the “Garden of the Soul” the theme expands, enforced by value of a fundamental reflection: that man is impassive to the natural laws that are inside of him; in an egotistic exaltation, he is undermining the existence of a future for the entire planet.
The artist weaves an “assenglage” of fortuitous intuitions: stone sculpture, mirrors of water, terrain modelling, the planting of lawns and shrubbery selected for their chromatic qualities. An architectural landscape designed with a formal minimalism, developing a deep understanding between the message and it representation: the fundamental necessity of reaffirming a restored harmony between man and nature.
The artist theorizes on the greenness of the work evoking distinctive historical styles related to Saint Hildegard von Bingen, emblematic medieval female icon. Abbess, mystic, theologian, composer, naturopath, she prophesied a joyful synthesis between the vital energy of nature recognizable in all physical and spiritual levels of creation. But the hoped for equilibrium of nature’s vital forces are not limited by theoretical assumptions, Maria Dompè presents this with a sensitive culture of the image with an involving uniqueness and sensory participation. The music chosen by the artist brings an introspective suggestiveness to the scenography and experience of the work.
The music is a “mix” of a piece composed by Hildegard von Bingen, associated with the music of nature, where the inner mysticism pulsates with a vehement intensity. The aromatic scent intensifies the spiritual “pathos”. Here is the harbinger of hope: the individual search for an interior equilibrium that emanates the generating force of collective harmony. A wave of centrifugal energy that from individual awareness expands exponentially, creating a vision in complete natural harmony. Maria Dompè throws the “stone” in the pond of life, waiting for the waves to spread out 360 degrees.
Pierre