Exhibition: 'Maladaptive Daydreaming' by Elena Garrigolas

The exhibition 'Maladaptive Daydreaming' by artist Elena Garrigolas presents a compelling journey into the complexities of human experience through a surreal lens. Central to the exhibition is the story of a three-year-old girl who mysteriously disappears from a Greek beach, an incident that serves as the catalyst for a series of artistic explorations questioning the nature of escape and reality. Garrigolas merges painting, drawing, and animation to construct a vivid and provocative visual narrative that challenges normative perceptions of the human body. With influences drawn from personal experiences of emotional repression and bodily denial, she curates a world filled with anthropomorphic and grotesque figures that touch on themes such as body containment, guilt, ideals of beauty, and mother-daughter relationships. This body of work also reflects feminist perspectives on escapism, as it examines the delicate balance between refuge and alienation inherent in excessive daydreaming. An