A journey into the uncharted territories of the mind, where the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur, is what French-Italian artist Romain Garzonio, known as ROMA, invites us to embark upon with his debut solo exhibition, Subconscious Square Roots, now on display in Phnom Penh. • **Transforming the Gallery Space**: The show transforms the Level 35 at the Rosewood Phnom Penh into a dreamlike realm of personal reflection and timeless emotion, inviting visitors to enter ROMA’s inner world through a collection of 38 evocative works. • **A Diverse Array of Mediums**: The exhibition features 27 paintings, 5 sculptures, 3 photographs, and 3 drawings, each created instinctively and layered with meaning. These diverse mediums showcase ROMA’s unique approach to art, where the emotional and the intuitive blend seamlessly. • **Abstract “Time Capsules” as the Central Piece**: The centerpiece of the exhibition is ROMA’s series of abstract “time capsules” — sculptural works that encase everyday objects in plaster and resin, preserving fragments of ordinary life as sacred relics. • _Preserving Fragments of Memory_: These pieces, with their muted tones and weathered textures, conjure a sense of suspended time, as though the subconscious has frozen a memory just before it fades. Each object, once ordinary, is now transformed into a relic, imbued with the emotional imprint of a moment in time. • **Exploring the Subconscious**: ROMA explains, “My art isn’t about beauty in the conventional sense. It’s about essence, about preserving the emotional imprint of an experience, a place, a feeling. These works are fragments of my subconscious, and I hope they stir reflection in others.”
• **A Personal Journey**: Born in Montpellier, France to Italian parents, ROMA originally trained as a plaster craftsman before redirecting his skills toward fine art. His artistic vocabulary — rooted in touch, memory, and time — began to take shape after moving to Rome at 25, where the city’s rich classical heritage left a deep mark on his creative outlook. • **Influences and Inspiration**: Having lived in Cambodia for the past seven years, ROMA has found in Phnom Penh both solitude and inspiration. “Solitude untangles emotions,” he says. “It’s in that silence that I can understand myself — and that’s where the work comes from.”
• **A Global Tour**: The exhibition marks the beginning of ROMA’s global tour, with future stops in Spain and France. It offers a rare glimpse into an artist who bridges old-world craftsmanship with contemporary introspection — a practice that invites viewers to dwell not only on the objects in front of them, but also on the intangible echoes they leave behind. • **A Meditative Escape**: Subconscious Square Roots is open to the public until June 30, offering a meditative escape and a striking testament to the power of art to preserve what words cannot say. •
| Artist Name | Mediums Used | Exhibition Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Romain Garzonio (ROMA) | Paintings, Sculptures, Photographs, Drawings | April 20 to June 30 |
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“My art isn’t about beauty in the conventional sense. These works are fragments of my subconscious, and I hope they stir reflection in others,”
— ROMA
• Key Takeaways
• Subconscious Square Roots is a debut solo exhibition that delves into the realms of the subconscious, inviting viewers to reflect on their own experiences. • The exhibition features a diverse array of mediums, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, and drawings. • The central piece, the abstract “time capsules,” preserve fragments of everyday life, imbuing them with emotional significance. • ROMA’s artistic journey is rooted in touch, memory, and time, influenced by his experiences living in Rome and Cambodia. • Definition: Subconscious Square Roots refers to the exhibition of Romain Garzonio’s artworks that explore the realm of the subconscious, where emotions, memories, and experiences are preserved and reflected upon. • Highlights:
• The use of abstract “time capsules” as a central piece in the exhibition. • The diverse array of mediums used in the exhibition. • The way in which the exhibition invites viewers to reflect on their own experiences and emotions. •
Romain Garzonio, known as ROMA, is a French-Italian artist who has been working in Phnom Penh for the past seven years. His artistic vocabulary is rooted in touch, memory, and time, and has been shaped by his experiences living in Rome and Cambodia. He is the creator of the exhibition Subconscious Square Roots, which has been open to the public since April 20 and will run until June 30.