Songe is composed of over forty individually hand-sculpted components, each a stylized, imagined rendering of a passion flower plant. Its vines trace elegant arabesques; its graphic foliage, star-shaped flowers with intricate pistils, and crinkled, ripening fruit are all features that captivated and inspired Riehl. In her lyrical installation, the passion flower literally climbs the wall, unfurling its blossoms and fruit as it ascends. Accompanying this dynamic composition is a muted palette, where greens mingle with pinks in a resolutely joyful vision—an evocation of spring’s first blush.

Although the passion flower reaches for the sun, a cluster of ferns at its base grounds it in the forest undergrowth, creating a contrast between light and shadow.

Drawing inspiration from classical mythology—a recurring source in her work—Riehl turns to the story of Dibutades to explore dynamic oppositions. As recounted by the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder, Dibutades is credited with inventing clay relief modeling. His daughter, longing to preserve the image of her absent lover, traced the shadow of his profile cast by lamplight onto a wall. Her father later modeled the figure in clay, thus founding the art form and securing his own place in art history. Notably, the daughter remains unnamed in the tale, her contribution overlooked and relegated to the background.

The sculpture’s title, Songe, also directly references Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Le Songe d’une nuit d’été in French), a play whose central motif is the tension between opposing forces. Gender dynamics play a crucial role in the narrative, reflecting everyday power structures between men and women.

Beyond its allusion to wall relief, Riehl’s installation reflects her ongoing awareness of how women’s roles in art history are often marginalized. By employing a deep pink glaze—unusual in her practice—she deliberately engages with gendered visual codes, envisioning a dream of a world where women hold their rightful place.