The works entitled “Il pesce che non c’é” ( The Fish That Isn’t) have been created by taking profiles from the collection “Pesci fuor d’acqua” (Fishes Out of Water) and continuing to play with contrasts which make up the world of Monica De Mattei. The artist gets to grips with the pendant and diptych, placing all series in a more direct and evident communication, enabling them to engage in a continuous dialogue. “Il pesce che non c’è”, the fish that isn’t, jumps out of “Oceano 4.0” ocean, it exits a fantastical and colourful sea, leaving behind an emerging void. A void symbolising the infinite richness of possibilities, of maximum openness and freedom. It represents a mental state which eastern philosophy identifies as fundamental for artists, because the soul can only unleash its full creative potential when freed from the distraction of extraneous thoughts. It is a void which makes appearance and the occurrence of all things possible, even the most unexpected, like a “fish that is here but isn’t here”. A work in which the empty profile is no longer solitary, rather it is accompanied by other “visible companions” which swim inside, and perhaps even beyond a sea of spirals, volutes and colourful waves which emanate a sense of cheerfulness, joy and lust for life.