In his paintings on wood, his sensitivity to both material and environment is especially evident: he layers wood stain, ink, and sparkling spray paint onto wooden supports, then sands them back in certain areas to reveal the grain. This natural pattern becomes integral to the image, transformed into elements such as overcast skies or fog drifting across a landscape. The visible grain lends the paintings a tactile quality, while Elfgen’s controlled use of colour and light imbues his subjects with a subtle romanticism.

Cigno Nero (2026) sets the tone for the exhibition – its title translates to “black swan,” used figuratively in Italian to describe an unforeseen event of great impact, perhaps referring to the billowing cloud of black ink above the abstracted power plant.

The collage on concrete Emilia (2026) places a black-and-white photograph of a nuclear plant against a richly textured purple textile band, creating a striking contrast between industrial architecture and decorative fabric. Above, a pale atmospheric sky rendered in soft pinks and greys features a shiny circular element suggesting the sun or the moon. This surreal juxtaposition creates a dreamlike quality that questions the relationship between human technology and the natural world, gesturing toward the utopian possibility implied by the show’s title: an imagined space where these oppositions dissolve and industrial progress is reimagined through romantic sensitivity rather than destructive force.

Ranging from filigree organic motifs to simple geometrical shapes that coalesce into industrial structures, these sculptural pieces divide the exhibition space while simultaneously connecting it—window and obstruction at once; their transparency allows sight lines to pass through the barriers they establish.

Nearby, a discarded and tipped-over fuel canister “spills” glossy colour across the floor.