In this series of artworks, I explore the concept of mindfulness and mental healing in its simplest form: acknowledging the permanent thought noise in one's mind and redirecting attention fully to the present moment. Sometimes, the act of painting itself becomes meditative, reproducing fragmented landscapes from memory—a memory of a moment when the mind was almost fully present and grounded.

The mind's eye kept returning to this particular moment: the sight of a colorful pastel sunset over the gracious pine trees at Parco Borghese in Rome. Over time, this specific Mediterranean tree, the pino domestico, became the main actor of these meditations and a symbol of the so-called flow state and the feeling of safety and peace.

However, many times the mind wanders and gets hijacked by past experiences or fear of the future. In these states, my own body serves as an anchor to the present moment, to the current reality outside of it. It appears in many paintings fragmented and distorted, trying to free itself from old habits and thought processes that no longer serve it. It’s supported by an important motif: the chessboard, as a reminder to just keep moving, no matter what.

The fourth important symbol in this series is the seashell, a metaphor for the mind space itself. Just as pine trees emerge from marine shells in some of my drawings, we too can break free from ours and transform—a small reminder that growth often comes from the most unexpected places.

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