In 2015, at the age of 17, I took part in a collective exhibition at Associazione Piazza dei Mestieri in Turin. The show was organized as part of an art award for artists under 25, in collaboration with Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and the Accademia di Belle Arti di Torino, supported by funding from the Italian state and the Piemonte region.

Titled Cibo per la Mente, the exhibition drew inspiration from the theme of Expo 2015, reflecting on food not only as nourishment but also as a philosophy of life. Out of the many participants, fifteen artists were selected for the final exhibition in Turin, and I was one of the youngest among them.

The exhibition took place from 4–20 November 2015, with the opening on 4 November at 18:30. Alongside my work, the show featured pieces by students from the Liceo Artistico Brera of Milano, Giulio Alvigini, Francesco Calabrese, Clelia Carbonari, Laura Cemin, Mattia Cesaria, Raffaele Cirianni, Anna Dormio, Francesco Mori, Antonio Salerno, Roberta Saullo, and Riccardo Venturi.

For the occasion, I presented an artwork called Pioggia di Cibo (Food Rain), a 100 × 80 cm acrylic painting on canvas. It was a bold and playful reflection on the theme of abundance, and despite my pride in the work, my high school painting teacher at the time dismissed it as “horrible” and “copycat.” I suspect, because I hadn’t told him about the the competition. He used to have a very selective system of who can a participate to certain “cool” projects, usually reserving opportunities for his favourites, and my art practice rarely fit into his imposed hierarchy. Pioggia di cibo was, in that sense, both a quiet act of defiance and an important early step in claiming my own indipendent voice as an artist.