If you've followed my paintings for a while, you've probably noticed one character appearing again and again: Orange Rabbit. Round, curious, and always wandering, Orange Rabbit travels through tropical forests, underwater gardens, mysterious mountains, and dreamlike landscapes.
Through these fairy tales, it explores not only the outer world, but also the inner landscape of the human mind. Over time, two more rabbits appeared in my paintings: Shadow Rabbit and Fairy Rabbit. Together, these three rabbits have become the symbolic foundation of my fairy-tale universe.
Shadow Rabbit was inspired by Carl Jung's idea of the Shadow—the hidden parts of ourselves that we fear, reject, or fail to recognize. These unconscious aspects quietly shape our choices, relationships, and the stories we tell ourselves. In my fairy tale, Orange Rabbit meets Shadow Rabbit inside a mysterious cave called the Stomach Cave. It is frightened and overwhelmed, forced to confront the darkest part of itself, and eventually realizes something important: Shadow Rabbit is not an enemy from the outside, but a part of itself.
Today, many people call this process shadow work or healing. There are many paths, but they all begin with the same step: to truly see our wounds, acknowledge our vulnerability, and accept that our shadow exists. The moment we see the shadow is the moment healing begins.
I first painted Shadow Rabbit during the pandemic in 2022. Working alone for long periods brought many of my own unconscious fears to the surface. At first, I thought I had already found and resolved my shadow, but life kept proving me wrong. Again and again, new shadows emerged. I began to notice the limiting beliefs that made me feel smaller than I truly was, preventing me from living with greater freedom and creativity.
Jung believed that the shadow also contains tremendous creative energy. Each time I descend into it, face it, and integrate it, I become a little more whole. In the story, Orange Rabbit fights Shadow Rabbit but never kills it, because the shadow can never be destroyed. It can only be understood, integrated, and transformed into part of ourselves.
If Shadow Rabbit represents the unconscious shadow, Fairy Rabbit represents what Jung called the Self—our deepest, most authentic nature.
The image of Fairy Rabbit first evolved from one of my 3D-printed jewelry creatures created during my Master's degree at Politecnico di Milano. In the Orange Rabbit story, Fairy Rabbit is the divine Self that exists within each of us, representing intuition, natural wisdom, and the life force that quietly guides us through darkness.
At one point in the story, Orange Rabbit discovers that the Parrot is dying. The Parrot symbolizes joy—our ability to feel lightness, wonder, and delight in life. When joy disappears, it can feel as though life itself has lost its color. It is in this darkest moment that Fairy Rabbit appears. She brings no weapons and gives no explanations; she simply brings light. Like the mysterious helper found in many fairy tales and myths, Fairy Rabbit reminds us that the strength we are searching for has always existed within us. She represents trust—in life, in nature, and in the flow of existence.
I have always believed that nature supports those who continue choosing kindness and hope. Good guys will always win.
Orange Rabbit, Shadow Rabbit, and Fairy Rabbit are not separate characters, but different aspects of one inner journey. Orange Rabbit is the curious self who experiences life, Shadow Rabbit is the unconscious self that asks to be acknowledged, and Fairy Rabbit is the authentic Self that quietly waits beneath fear. When we begin to face our shadow with honesty instead of avoidance, something else also begins to awaken. We grow inward, and that quiet inner wisdom—the Fairy Rabbit—becomes easier to hear.
Many traditions express this idea in different ways. Jung called it individuation, Taoism speaks of the harmony of yin and yang, and fairy tales tell it through magical helpers and transformative journeys. Different languages, but the same truth.
Whenever I paint, I also observe myself. Some days my mind feels restless, trapped inside the narrow perspective of the ego; other days, I enter a state of flow, where time disappears and everything feels connected. These moments never last forever, but I have learned something that comforts me: as long as I continue creating, the path leading to my authentic Self remains open. Even a brief moment in that state nourishes something deep inside me.
For me, creating fairy tales is a journey through the unconscious. Over the past few years, I have immersed myself in myths and fairy tales from many cultures, and I have come to believe that humanity has always needed stories—not simply for entertainment, but because stories carry wisdom from one generation to the next. So I often ask myself: what kind of fairy tales do we need today? Perhaps we need stories that encourage us to look inward, because the deepest source of vitality, creativity, and healing has always lived within us.
