'Unknown' is a painting that serves as a reminder about finding the confidence to make bold decisions and to have faith.

The painting represents Poposh coming out from a mole's burrow. He finds Steve Jobs, who gives him confidence, and Hermann Hesse, who gives him faith.

This painting is purposely titled 'Unknown' because I unfortunately never learnt what the Chinese characters I wrote down meant. I took a bus one morning intending to go north of Beijing to spend a few days in a rural area. After some hesitation at the bus station, I hopped on a bus, and that was it. I had found my confidence to leap into the unknown.

The hours went by, and the city's concrete gave away to fields scattered around an industrial archipelago. I was deep into my book. From time to time, I gazed outside to contemplate the scenery from afar. Four hours had passed, and the bus had gradually emptied. I checked the map on my phone and realised that I was four hours west of Beijing, not north. I had jumped on the wrong bus.

I tried calling a friend who spoke mandarin to pass him over to the driver. But the connection was very poor. I asked him to send me a message written in Chinese with indications on how to get back to Beijing. That's when the battery of my phone went down to 1%. As soon as I received his message, I tried frantically to write the characters down in the book I was reading. This was my ticket back home. Unfortunately, I only got halfway before my phone's screen went black. The bus driver dropped me off on the side of the road, and that was that.

Eventually, someone hosted me in their home, and I spent a few days there. It was a wonderfully unexpected and spontaneous trip that reminded me to have faith in how things turn out.

This painting is made using ink and acrylic paint. It was exhibited at Bar Isola in Milan.

2017