Monica Piloni: Allegories of Triversity

About

Allegories of Triversity marks Monica Piloni’s inaugural exhibition in Berlin. The Brazilian artist, based in Brussels since 2020, presents a diverse series of works spanning various media, with a primary focus on sculpture in physical, virtual, and photographic forms. Through these works—mounted on pedestals or integrated into installations—Piloni explores the coexistence of simultaneous and multiple narratives. Her sustained engagement with reconstructing the human body, particularly through the fragmentation and reassembly of female forms, reimagines figures of female monstrosity. Traditionally subjects of mythic fear, these figures are reclaimed and transformed into symbols of counter-mythology.

The exhibition is structured into four acts—Flesh, Floating, Golden, and Standing—each occupying a distinct section of the gallery and drawing on the gestures and materiality of Piloni’s sculptures. The interplay between form and narrative is central to each act.

Among the highlighted works, Mermaid features a fused, dual-faced female figure in a meditative pose. This sculpture embodies the fluid and complex nature of self-identity, evoking questions of perception and inner multiplicity. The digital work Oops presents a surreal and fragmented female form, using bold red accents to highlight themes of bodily dissection and vulnerability, emphasizing Piloni’s exploration of the body’s objectification and its reclamation. Would You Want My Soul?, a hyper-realistic photograph, depicts a disjointed, elongated female figure sprawled across a sofa. The eerie, distorted anatomy blurs the lines between the familiar and grotesque, challenging viewers’ perceptions of physical and psychological space.

The suspended form in Diver 75% explores the body’s precarious balance between gravity and grace. The piece creates a sense of disorientation, enhancing the tension between weight and buoyancy. Untitled III and Untitled IV, photographic works, portray human-like forms enshrouded in fabric and positioned in domestic environments, suggesting themes of confinement and the uncanny. These scenes resonate with Piloni’s interest in exploring liminal spaces, where figures seem simultaneously rooted and adrift.

The sculpture IdEgoSuperego 20% is a golden mass of intertwined, contorted bodies, encapsulating Piloni’s commentary on psychological and societal struggles. The work juxtaposes desire and chaos, examining how individual identities merge or conflict within collective experiences. Succubus, The End presents a standing, multi-limbed figure, exuding an aura of both strength and surrealism, capturing Piloni’s signature interplay of bodily mutation and empowerment. Finally, Hexa, a sleek black sculpture, depicts an entwined embrace, emphasizing themes of intimacy, entrapment, and physical abstraction. The accompanying video amplifies these motifs, animating forms that oscillate between the alluring and the alien.

Through her work, Piloni navigates themes of materiality and the transcendental, weaving together imaginaries that span from witches and cyborgs to cultural icons. She envisions a post-human world marked by fluidity, transformation, and multiplicity, challenging traditional binaries and celebrating the dynamic complexities of contemporary identity.