Taking care of ourselves, of others, of objects and feelings. I can already imagine Hiva Alizadeh (Teheran - Iran, 1989) in her studio, who gently caresses her works, pampers them, arranges them, brushes them. Daily gestures, full of affection and intimacy. How not to think of girls playing mom with dolls and Barbie, caressing before falling asleep, cuddling their little dog.

Alizadeh's works have their roots in the ancient Persian tradition, in particular in the age-old technique for making Kerman carpets. The merchants presented them as carpets on which it was possible to walk every day, for a hundred years, without damaging the texture and the splendid decorative medallions that branch out from a central geometry, often red in color. However, the use of synthetic materials, such as hair extensions present in all his works, perhaps invites us to reflect on the results of a globalization that for decades has been devastating entire localities in every corner of the planet.

The contemporary interpretation of the tradition belonging to the artist's country of origin, where he still lives and works, is accentuated by the psychedelic and cosmopolitan effect obtained with lively and colorful palettes. For the first time, Aliza- deh presents three sculptural and installation works, which descend from the walls where they are usually placed, conquering a three-dimensional space and being activated by colored lights that are so reminiscent of 80's ballrooms and more recently clubs by Karaoke. I am immediately catapulted into Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola: Scarlett Johansson, bright pink wigs, endless nights, taxis driven by chauffeurs with white gloves and crazy drunken rides like never before.

East and West collide. We forget ideologies and religion, histories and the future, focusing on a present formed by complex plots, inspired by the Iranian morphology and landscape or the rural region that Alizadeh constantly visits. They are maps, photographs, testimonies of a hungry traveler always curious about what lies beyond the hill.

Living works are born, moved by the air and as static as kinetic - there is no right, unique, determined position. Each stroke of the brush gives a new life to sculptural paintings, which allow the artist to rework, brushstroke after brushstroke, canvases where the paint never seems to dry.

Alizadeh loves life, nature, each other.