“The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter – often an unconscious

but still a faithful interpreter – in the eye.”

Charlotte Bronte

The eye in anatomy is the sense organ, characteristic of vertebrates, whose function is to receive light stimuli and transmit them to the nerve centers, giving rise to visual sensations. Scientifically speaking, the definition of this word seems to give us a limited view of all that the eye can communicate to our brain; in fact, it actually expands beyond the boundaries of the imagination, ranging and leaving a large door open to a complex universe, made up of emotions and layers of meaning. 'Visual sensations' are therefore not limited to the ability to distinguish colours, shapes or things, but are something extremely more complex.

How many times have we heard that the eye is the mirror of the soul? Sacred, mysterious, destructive, melancholic, deep, absent, the eyes have always fascinated artists from all over the world and all ages. As Leonardo Da Vinci wrote in his 16th century Treatise on Painting: 'The eye, the window of the soul, is the chief means whereby the understanding can most fully and abundantly appreciate the infinite works of Nature[...]'; or Vincent van Gogh: 'I would sooner paint people's eyes than cathedrals, for there is something in the eyes that is lacking in a cathedral [...]'; or Amedeo Modigliani: 'When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes.'. This makes us realize how much can actually be hidden in a gaze, how big the world is inside and outside each one of us.

The Eyes Wide Open art project began as a reflection on how art can expand our view of the world, fluidifying our emotions and transforming what we already know. Maria Boström's paintings come from an invisible world steeped in wonder, spirituality and self-discovery. This series of works is the trace of a year-long experience, an embryo that has grown over time and finally been given birth, emerging from the artist's womb to finally be touched by light. Each of these 28 works contains a story, which can only be revealed once our eyes can encounter every brushstroke, every nuance and colour, every deformation of the surface and every detail.

Maria Boström's artworks are mutable souls in perfect harmony with nature, as their colour varies and is never the same; they reverberate when in contact with light and come to life when they meet the sun's rays. The artist wants to open our eyes to an enlightened meditative space, to allow us to see beyond and perceive that intangible spiritual universe made of pure energy. Light, the source of life itself, also becomes a source of knowledge, the key to be able to escape the materiality of the body and open up to a greater awareness. The artist's intention is to look deeper into mystery and the sublime in order to embark on a journey towards a contemporary reinterpretation of the Garden of Eden, understood as an intimate and personal place in which to rediscover contact with oneself.

The eye assumes a central role for the artist as a sense organ capable of communicating not only inwards, but also outwards. Reflecting our emotions in an immediate way, it can become a trace of a personal experience that emerges and manifests itself. The Eyes Wide Open art project is therefore intertwined with some more scientific aspects. Various research studies, especially in recent years, have shown that of all the elements of our body, the eyes play a particularly significant role in communicating our state of mind and emotions. This is why Maria Boström chose to include photographer Tina Axelsson and Professor Eva Boiner Horwitz, a cultural health researcher specializing in psychosomatic medicine and the creative arts, in the project. Through this important collaboration, the aim is to analyze and understand what can arise from the guests' encounter with the exhibited paintings. In fact, in the first phase of the evening, a series of photographs will be taken of the participants' eyes before and after their experience with the paintings, and the following day this will be explored in depth during the scheduled Art Talk.

Thus, the encounter between spirituality and science becomes a fascinating crossroads of humanity, where the search for meaning merges with investigation and discovery. Maria Boström's aim is to explore the convergence of these two dimensions, emphasizing the intrinsic beauty of creation and the mysterious energies that link every aspect of the universe.

Art curator

Francesca Brunello