Amid the city’s bustle, “Portal” emerged like a luminous fissure—a threshold between dimensions. Conceived by Colombian artist Mareo, this installation invited an inner pause, a suspended instant in which matter became a spiritual experience.

“Portal is an immersive installation that represents a threshold between matter and spirit, darkness and light. It isn’t meant to be crossed; it’s meant to be contemplated. I wanted viewers to experience an inner pause—a sense of connection and transcendence before a luminous presence that invited quietness,” explains Mareo.

Within ADN Fórum—a space where innovation, architecture, and design converge in a constant exchange of ideas— “Portal” introduced a different kind of silence. A break in the rhythm, a refuge in the city’s heart. Its meditative atmosphere offered a counterpoint to the dynamism of the event, inviting people to stop, breathe, and connect with a deeper dimension of sensory and spiritual experience.

“Portal introduced a space for contemplation within the dynamism of ADN Fórum. Its quiet, meditative atmosphere offered a counterpoint to the urban and technological environment,” the artist adds.

The installation invited calm. Controlled entry, steady dimness, constant temperature, and subtle ventilation formed a spatial script that encouraged introspection.

“Every element was designed to induce a state of stillness. The sound—composed of high-vibration frequencies and Tibetan bowls—enveloped the visitors and guided them toward deep introspection, almost a meditative state,” says Mareo.

Visitors stepped into a sealed space that became a sensory capsule. The proportions emphasized verticality and the tension of the central fissure, while the immersive sound expanded perception beyond the container’s physical limits. The experience wasn’t about movement but about remaining—about contemplating the moment.

In the installation, Neolith became poetic substance and not just a surface. Specifically, the chromatic purity of the Neolith Mont Blanc model and the way it reflected light gave “Portal” an essential materiality.

“Neolith provided the materiality the piece needed. Its mineral, pristine surface reinforced the idea of permanence and silence. The stony texture and the way it reflected light transformed the container’s interior into a chamber for contemplation,” the artist affirms.

The choice was no accident. The sintered stone acted as both structural and symbolic element. Its stability and technical resilience made the installation possible, while its touch and luminosity created a constant dialogue between the physical and the intangible. In “Portal”, Neolith became both skin and spirit—matter that reflected energy.

At the heart of the installation there was a vertical fissure that cut through the space. A line of pure light functioning as both wound and threshold. Its execution—precise yet organic—combined technique and poetry.

“The cut was made with precise angle-grinder work to preserve its natural organicity. The light source remained completely hidden behind a technical system of acrylic and LED tubes that diffused an ethereal, even light,” Mareo explains.

A mirrored ceiling extended the light line into infinity, revealing the fissure’s full form and multiplying its presence. Light thus became living matter—a presence that shaped the void and suspended the interior between reality and transcendence.

In an urban site like Plaza de Colón, “Portal” conversed with noise, natural light, and the steady flow of pedestrians. The work didn’t seek isolation from its context; it offered a transition—a passage between outside and inside, between bustle and silence.

“Portal acted as a refuge of silence amid the city’s noise. Visitors moved from the bustle and glared outside into a contained atmosphere where harmonic sound and pure light created a change in frequency. That transition—from the everyday to the sacred—was the true heart of the experience.”

The installation proposed an inner journey. It wasn’t about looking at an object but about undergoing a change of state. Those who entered did so with their gaze, their body, and their breath.

This work is part of “Portales”, a series that Mareo has been developing for years across different contexts and scales—from Sharjah to Valletta to Inota. In each of them, the fissure symbolizes resilience, evolution, and transcendence.

“Portal continues my research of the fissure as a symbol of resilience, evolution, and transcendence. From earlier experiences I learned to treat light and sound as living matter. In this iteration, the synthesis is complete: a minimal gesture of light, matter, and vibration that opens space for contemplation and inner transformation.”

Each new installation is an evolution, a distillation of prior learnings. In “Portal”, that synthesis reached its purest form: a minimal gesture concentrating all energy into a single point of light.