Rita Levi Montalcini portrait -I Lived Forever

2013

Silicone , fiberglass, Yak hair, oil colors, wood, fabric

90cm x 45cm x 40cm

A sculpture to honour the memory of Nobel Laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini, a year from her passing.
The values and principles highlighted by this piece are those of Rita's exemplary life conduct, especially in regards to her attitude towards younger generations and their potentials in the future, both from an educational and creative point of view.

"A small lady with an indomitable will but the bearing of a princess", are the words Primo Levi used to describe Rita Levi-Montalcini, a life member of the Italian Senate and a truly illustrious figure in the history of world science who was awarded a Nobel Prize for medicine for her discovery of the nerve growth factor (NGF) in 1986.

Rita Levi-Montalcini is portrayed as serene and ageless, her lips hint at a slight but knowledgeable smile, evoking not only her determination, but also her constant awareness and fresh spirit. This work is not only a tribute to a famous figure in both the social and scientific world, but more importantly to a woman with a fierce and immense strength of mind. She stated that "one must never give up in life, submit to mediocrity, but rather come out of that 'grey zone' in which everything is habit and passive resignation, one must nurture the courage to rebel" (2008). Always interested in others and often careless of her own well-being, throughout the one hundred and three years of her life, Rita Levi-Montalcini reserved great hopes in the capabilities, and most of all in the potentials, of new generations. In an age of alarming social fragility which is compelling young people to search for better lives away from Italy and where women continue to be the objects of a strongly patriarchal society, it is in the artist's intentions to celebrate and remember the life and indomitable strength of mind of this woman, majestically portrayed in a larger-than-life size. The reason for this is to evoke the superiority of her moral commitments and her strength of mind over the harsh, concrete reality of the world and the obstacles she faced with extraordinary courage, almost inviting us to follow in her steps.