Going ‘beyond’

An artist goes “beyond” and Ivan did go beyond, in a drawing he made that was chosen as the symbol of the Serafico Institute of Assisi, “a non-profit ecclesiastical organization that promotes and conducts rehabilitation, psychological education and provides social and clinical assistance for children and young adults with physical, mental and sensory disabilities”.

Speaking about the drawing, the Institute’s President, Francesca Di Maolo, said Ivan had told her that the he had drawn his “home”, that is, the Institute. Ivan, she said, explained that the young people depicted with their arms outstretched were the children of the Institute. Asked who the woman in the drawing was, Ivan replied, “It is not a woman, it is Jesus”. Ms Di Maolo then asked him if the hands embracing the Serafico were Jesus’ hands. And Ivan replied, “Yes but they are also yours”.

“There is everything, so much of everything [in Ivan’s drawing] that it was chosen as the symbol of our service”, Ms Di Maolo added. The artist Claudio Cutuli then printed Ivan’s drawing on canvas, imbued with nettles because it is a weed which is often “tread upon and despised that always finds the strength to live and the stubbornness to be born again”.