“Thus, the smile of a young woman does not quite match the faintly veiled gaze in her eyes, as though she is hiding a secret — perhaps the very one contained within the vessel she holds in her hands. Is it her own Pandora’s box, with all the evils of the world, or the secret essence of her femininity?” (Paolo Levi)

“The painter will captivate you with the meticulous details conceived through a virtuosic handling of colour and a precise study of light’s refraction. Although the mimetic rendering is flawless — almost disconcertingly so — the viewer is compelled to wonder what lies beyond the initial sense of serenity. A silent, surreal, dreamlike, and mystical dimension emanates from the subjects, who seem to pose existential questions: “Who are you? What are you hiding? What are you seeking?” The artist delves into what is known, transcending appearances to reveal profound, elusive meanings, as seen in his canvases where water becomes a symbol of rebirth and primordial inner torment. It is an art that seeks to encounter the invisible through the visible.” (Elisa Manzoni).

“With his paintings, Paolo Terdich transforms art into a vivid testimony of human tragedy, expressed through a universal symbol: the hand. In his work, hands are not merely figurative elements but become silent, powerful narrators of pain, resilience, and memory. Marked by experience, separation, and anguish, these hands — particularly in the series inspired by the Istrian-Dalmatian exodus — recount the drama of a people forced to abandon their homeland, weaving a fragile yet unbreakable thread between past and present. The hands of the exiled emerge as a universal, timeless emblem of human suffering. Through images of outstretched, twisted fingers, clenched fists, or hands tenuously connected by a thread, Terdich gives form to a pain that transcends the boundaries of visual representation. It is a pain that speaks of lived experience — a tension that draws us closer to the exiles and their untold stories.” (Alberto Moioli)