HOPE

needs to be rekindled.

United Nations, New York
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo
MAC Milan
Triennale di Milano
Fondazione Ferrero

The series

HOPE began as a series of nine sculptures in which the relationship between children and a white dove is built through simple gestures: protecting, caring, entrusting, recognising, embracing.

The works grew out of one another. Some were born as complements, others as evolutions of the same form.

What emerges is a search into relationship as a possible place for hope.

Every work keeps the title Hope, because hope is the thread that runs through the whole series.

One form generates another, one gesture suggests the next, and through these variations the way children and dove enter into relationship changes.

Gentle

Gentle is my first sculpture, and perhaps the one that represents me most. The girl embodies the trust I place in the new generations. With the ease of play she looks ahead, towards the future, without losing the ability to be gentle, attentive, present. She holds a tired dove, weighed down by the world. She does not try to change her or to lead her: she simply gives her her own energy, reminding us that gentleness is not weakness but a force that can support, inspire and rekindle hope.

Material: Gesmonite
Dimensions: 35×35×35 cm

Protect

The dove, a symbol of peace, carries a weight that keeps her from flying. And yet, in that very difficulty, her wing opens and becomes shelter. Beneath it a girl finds refuge. This is where every child should be able to live: a space of peace and calm, where they feel welcomed and safe. Because even in the hardest moments we can go on taking care of one another.

Material: Gesmonite
Dimensions: 35×35×35 cm

Together

A girl gives her a kiss. A boy stays beside her. While the world seems to forget its value, they take care of peace. Perhaps this is where we have to begin again. With love. With children.

Material: Gesmonite
Dimensions: 35×35×35 cm

Kiss

When we are small and we hurt ourselves, our mother's kiss arrives. It's a simple gesture: it doesn't erase the pain, but it makes us feel better at once. So the girl kisses the dove, with the same trust, the same tenderness, the same wish to take care. Because sometimes it is an act of love that begins the healing.

Material: Gesmonite
Dimensions: 35×35×35 cm

Trust

The girl kisses the dove. The boy leans in beside her. Two different gestures, both full of care. Some express affection through a gesture, others simply through their presence. Some try to heal a wound with a kiss, others offer closeness, comfort and warmth.

Material: Gesmonite
Dimensions: 35×35×35 cm

Bond

The boy leans against the dove and, at last, lets go. The dove in turn slightly turns her head, as if sensing that presence. For the first time the gesture is not one-directional but mutual. Peace is not something to be won or imposed. It is born of encounter, of a relationship made of trust, listening and presence.

Material: Gesmonite
Dimensions: 35×35×35 cm

Confide

A girl whispers something into the dove's ear.

In confiding we come closer to the other: we open up, we accept being seen as fragile, and we entrust ourselves.

And perhaps it is in the act of entrusting that hope begins.

Material: Gesmonite
Dimensions: 35×35×35 cm

Recognise

A boy covers the dove's eyes and asks her to recognise him.

It is a game, a playful and knowing gesture, possible only where a bond already exists.

In the lightness of play lies the trust of being recognised, even without seeing.

Material: Gesmonite
Dimensions: 35×35×35 cm

Hold

What is more intimate than an embrace returned?

A girl and the dove hold each other and look at one another. This time the gesture is mutual: both embrace and are embraced.

In an embrace distance dissolves. And perhaps it is there, in the meeting with the other, that hope lives.

Material: Gesmonite
Dimensions: 35×35×35 cm

For galleries

Originals are cast in Gesmonite, numbered and signed by the artist.

Enquire about the original series →