Hello, my name is Sawa Namira Previti, I am thirteen years old and I paint in a cubist style. I often begin with a simple drawing, a line, and then I let myself be carried away. Sometimes a face is born, sometimes a body that breaks apart, other times symbols that repeat: crosses, circles, planets. I don’t think of them beforehand, they just arrive… Then I realize they contain something greater than myself, images, dreams, symbols that speak of things I didn’t know I wanted to express, indexes of ideas I am still thinking through, perhaps archetypes.
I don’t think of art as something distant or complicated. For me it is the way I express what I see and feel. It is both everyday life and reflection: a bit like opening a fizzy choc stick while thinking about Jung. The two things do not exclude one another. On the contrary, to me they go very well together.
I was asked to make a sketch, a trial illustration, for bookmarks for the Jubilee Pilgrimage organized by “La Tenda di Gionata” and other associations. The theme was clear: St. Peter’s, the colonnade, the rainbow colors. These were not subjects I usually use, but I transformed them into my own language.
I want whoever takes home this small sign, this bookmark, to feel that there is real life inside it, not just a passing memento. In truth, I didn’t think they would choose my sketches… even though I liked them very much.
You may be wondering why such a young girl was asked… I have been painting for several years now and I have a special relationship with faith. I chose to be baptized two years ago and was struck by a man with a kind smile who wrote sweet and profound words, Pope Francis. I thought I would like to make him gifts, so I created a drawing that I sent him, together with a painting and a letter.
I didn’t know much about Pope Francis; I had read some of his words, I had seen his face on TV, and yes, he seemed truly like a good man. My father knows many people from the associations La Tenda di Gionata and GNRC (Global Network of Rainbow Catholics), he often told me about them and said they were going to meet Pope Francis.
It seemed even more moving to me that this man wanted to meet so many different people to listen to them. I wanted to give him something of mine, not a letter, no words or speeches, just my painting, so that it could reach him as a sign.
They told me that when it was given to him, he took it with a big smile, almost snatching it from the hands of the person offering it. That gesture was worth more than a thousand words. Some time later, I received his letter of thanks, which I carefully keep: it is laminated, hanging on the wall of my room, clearly visible, next to my favorite comics and my collection of vinyl records.
For me, it has become part of the story of that painting, together with the innocence with which it was born and the faith that led me to offer it. I have used the word “faith” many times… I am not even sure what it really means… I just know it exists, but I don’t know what it is.
I also exhibited in Turin, when I was nine years old, and I was the youngest artist in the gallery. There I saw people stopping in front of my paintings and then asking me many questions. Luckily, I am not shy; then each one would see in them so many different things I hadn’t even imagined.
Perhaps this is what I want: that my drawings and paintings always remain in balance between play and seriousness, that they dive, leap, and somersault up and down from the Depth. Because in the end, we are all like that: a bit funny, a bit serious.
I am happy to have created these bookmarks, because I know the Jubilee pilgrims will carry them with them as a small gift. They will be one of the memories of their journey, among a thousand prayers, and for me it is beautiful to think I am part of this moment.
Editorial Note: This article is a twin piece to another text published on Gionata.org.