Cahier nr. 4 - Tua Sorella

1980s, reflux, armed struggle and heroin. The three elements that characterized that period. Telling an increasingly popular topic, social unease, rebellion, drugs and freedom. This story is my sister’s story. At the age of 23, she committed suicide after a period as a drug addict, I am giving her a second life, using the language and dimension of street art, making her travel the world, as she had no way to do. I launched a communication campaign through billboards to make her an icon. Witnessing the fundamental role of art in defining perception. A photographic exhibition in constant motion, “on the road.” In the photographs I insert vivid colors to represent hallucinations, phrases from her secret diaries, glitter describes the false illusion of drugs. The colors, a jubilation to his life. This project was born from a letter received five years after her death, it was undoubtedly her, the same words, the same way of expressing herself through another person, acting as an intermediary, this letter saved me. The project is the result of social redemption, bringing Mary to be the protagonist of a new life. I wanted to make a dream possible, giving her the magic she never believed she possessed but that I saw, she was a different one in a world made only of rules, I broke the rules with courage, including love and pride for my sister and with the same pride I told her story giving her dignity, now Mary is no longer a nobody but the sister of many. With her, my childhood never lost its magic, with her it never lost its drama. Love does not end, love always wins.  

Photos by Veronica Barbato