There is a suspended moment between wakefulness and sleep when the mind conjures images that defy logic and seem to belong to another dimension. This is the realm of hypnagogia—that transitional state where consciousness opens itself to vision. From this threshold emerges *I sogni dell'Ipnagogo* (Dreams of the Hypnagogue), the new solo exhibition by Marta Volontè, hosted by Gli Eroici Furori Arte Contemporanea and curated by Silvia Agliotti and Paola Martino. With this new cycle of paintings, the artist embarks on a profoundly different phase of her creative journey. After more than seven years spent exploring the city and architecture as metaphors for the human experience, Marta Volontè moves away from the dense, layered spaces that defined her earlier work. She arrives instead at minimalist, silent landscapes dominated by vast monochromatic expanses, where sky and earth seem to merge, almost erasing the horizon line. It is a transformation the artist describes as necessary; arriving at this style of painting required "letting a part of her artistic language die. " The deserts inhabiting these canvases thus become a space of "what comes next"—settings for a rebirth that takes shape through emptiness, subtraction, and suspension. "In this transitional phase of my life, " explains Marta Volontè, "I find immense potential energy within the void—an energy I strive to give form to, canvas after canvas. "

The project’s origins lie in a vision that emerged during a guided meditation: a desert bathed in intense light, with a temple rising at its center. Inside, cradled like a revelation, sits a white calla lily, still glistening with dew. From this image, a minimalist pictorial universe takes shape, in which the temple symbolizes a threshold, while the flower represents that which endures and regenerates, even in the most extreme conditions. The exhibition’s title introduces an imaginary figure, the *Ipnagogo* (Hypnagog), inspired by the hypnagogic state. Marta Volontè envisions this mysterious guardian as a guide who leads others into the dream world, while pondering what the guardian’s own dream might be. The answer takes shape in the artworks: a boundless space where images are born, inhabited by minimalist architectural forms that emerge like silent presences within the landscape. Alongside the temples, portals appear in some of the works. These elements mark the boundary between two dimensions, suggesting an ongoing dialogue between the dream world and reality. It is never clear whether the viewer is entering the dream or emerging from it; each painting remains suspended in that fragile moment when consciousness crosses a threshold. While marking a distinct break from the past, this new body of work retains traces of what came before. Certain pieces reveal layers, glazes, and fragments of earlier paintings—intentionally left visible as a record of a journey that is not erased, but transformed. Painting thus becomes a realm where every change preserves its own history. “With *I sogni dell'Ipnagogo* (The Hypnagog’s Dreams), Marta Volontè does not merely launch a new series of paintings; she crosses a threshold, ” states Paola Martino, the exhibition’s co-curator. “The deserts, temples, and portals tell the story of what remains after a profound transformation: they are landscapes of the ‘aftermath’—places where emptiness becomes possibility and painting becomes a space of rebirth. ”

According to Silvia Agliotti, director of *Gli eroici furori* and co-curator of the exhibition, “At the heart of the temple guarded by Marta Volontè dwells a dew-kissed calla lily—a symbol of a Nature that continues to bloom despite the desert’s aridity. It is an image of hope and resilience, a metaphor for life, which always finds a way to regenerate. ” The exhibition thus invites reflection on change, on the capacity to navigate loss and envision new possibilities. Marta Volontè’s landscapes do not belong to a real place but to an inner space where silence becomes painterly substance and the essential nature of the forms opens onto a contemplative dimension. The desert is not absence but anticipation; the temple is not a refuge but a passageway; the calla lily held within it is the sign of a life that stubbornly continues to bloom. Accompanying the exhibition are critical texts by curators Silvia Agliotti and Paola Martino, offering two complementary interpretations of the project: one focused on transformation, the threshold, and the hypnagogic dimension of the artist’s work; the other on the symbolic value of Nature as a principle of rebirth and hope.