Pino Boresta: Swimming, Art, and the Fear of Death

Pino Boresta, an Italian artist born in Rome and living in Segni, reflects on life, death, and his artistic journey through the metaphor of a dive into cold water. He recounts a near-death experience while swimming off the coast of Feniglia at Argentario, near where Caravaggio is thought to have died. After being swept out to sea by strong winds, he swam for over three hours to reach shore, crediting his survival to his swimming technique and perhaps the spirit of Caravaggio. Following military service in Florence, where he spent free time watching street artists under the Uffizi Gallery, a chance encounter on a train inspired him to enroll in a fashion design school. There, he rediscovered his passion for drawing, producing sketches of nudes, self-portraits, and children from the Third World. He later left for London, where he created his famous series of 'Tovaglioli' (napkins). Boresta concludes by hoping to face death with the same courage he musters for a dive into icy water.