“Paolo Terdich possesses the rare gift of tackling subjects of remarkable technical complexity with virtuosity, engaging in a continuous dialogue with the dynamic nature of form through a palette rich in vibrant nuances. His paintings convey to the viewer a profound sense of expressive discipline, earning him rightful recognition as a masterful and refined talent. His work is unmistakably rooted in realist research, recalling the Anglo-American school of the late twentieth century, characterized by a construction that avoids all rhetorical indulgence. The reality he portrays achieves a flawless level of mimesis, yet beneath the smooth, serene surface of a face lie unrest and unspoken questions, subtly embedded in the details like quiet warnings. In this way, a swimmer’s figure may suddenly appear fragmented — and not solely due to the water’s refraction”. (Paolo Levi).

“Water, with its crystalline transparency, becomes in Terdich’s work a powerful metaphor for the human condition: it reflects the world while simultaneously distorting it, evoking alternate dimensions of existence — a threshold through which the viewer is invited to access a renewed perception of reality. His painting thus finds its place, in a cultured and refined manner, within an artistic tradition of profound depth, while maintaining a distinctive stylistic language entirely his own.” (Alberto Moioli).

“The waters of Terdich — a painter deeply attuned to artistic experiences beyond his native borders — summon a wealth of symbolism associated with this precious element, whose archetypal significance belongs, through prenatal memory, to the most ancient strata of our psyche. Thus, in the depths of the sea, in dialogue with the human body, or poetically suspended within the transparency of glass, water becomes one of the dearest and most recurrent themes for this painter of Istrian descent. It is the subject of an artistic investigation that transforms it into a true territory of vision. Executed rigorously in oil, with occasional incursions into acrylic and watercolour, Terdich’s artistic practice is grounded in a deliberate, highly controlled approach, the result of a technical mastery refined over the years to give voice to a profound, inner sensibility. With a deft and sensitive hand, the artist articulates a form of painting that, while undoubtedly indebted to the North American realism of the late twentieth century, transcends the strict exactitude of Photorealism and Sharp Focus Realism.Containers of light and vessels of enigmatic narrative, Terdich’s waters acquire a transcendent force, ferrying the painter beyond the emotional void that can sometimes accompany hyperrealist expression. The destination is an inner realm, a hypnotic experience of totality not without its ambiguities. These are inhabited waters, reflecting our own sense of displacement”. (Susanna Gualazzini).