THE DREAMERS
"Abandoned and neglected places, visibly in a state of disrepair, lie at the heart of this project, which began in 2013 and remains an ongoing exploration. The common thread running through the entire production is perceptual disorientation.
Izzo constructs a parallel dimension through a transfigured and enigmatic vision of reality, imposing it on the audience in a way that destabilizes comprehension and forces them to seek new interpretative keys. In this series, the artist reclaims forgotten places and populates them with characters of strong personality who forcefully occupy the space, creating unsettling, disorienting, and disturbing images.
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The subjects of the photographs embody goodness and beauty, purity and strength, yet when removed from their usual "habitat" and placed in a contrasting context, they evoke other sensations, themes, and impressions, such as the cruelty of abandonment, neglect, and uncertainty.
In this body of work, the artist undertakes the reclamation of abandoned, forgotten, and crumbling places, into which she introduces, by contrast and antinomy, characters, objects, and, more broadly, "alien" presences, all marked by a strong personality. These figures boldly take possession of the space, creating strikingly disorienting and deeply disturbing images.
These characters are envisioned as utopian dreamers because, completely unaware of the danger or dereliction of the place, they "inhabit it with hope" and face its despair and desolation head-on, standing firm and proud rather than fleeing from it.
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The artist uses the metaphorical sense of the subjects or objects at the center of the work to activate a perceptual short circuit, leading the viewer to take small but profound leaps into the subconscious. This forces them to delve into their deepest self and personal memory in search of a new sensory equilibrium."