ELEPHANTUS - THE WILD CALL OF A CONSTELLATION OF LOVE
- foscaworld
- Sep 9
- 3 min read
Elephantus – The Wild Call of a Constellation of Love
When I first saw Fosca’s canvas, in 2019, I remembered that morning in Maremma, many years ago, when, lifting my eyes from the notebook where I was drawing a kingfisher, I glimpsed a family of wild boars crossing the clearing with the same silent grace as stars crossing the night sky. There was something mysterious in that movement, something that spoke of ancient bonds, of deep connections that modern humans have almost forgotten.
Elephantus is one of those works that remind us that true art is always born from an encounter: the encounter between the observing eye and the wild heart of the world. Fosca has captured what I have always sought to convey through my illustrations, in fifty years spent among woods and lagoons: that beauty arises from an intimate, patient, almost contemplative relationship with the things around us.
Look at this invented constellation: it is not astronomy, it is ethology of the soul. Just as when I watch an eagle’s behavior for hours and eventually realize I am learning something about myself, so before these threads connecting nonexistent stars, you understand that the artist is mapping the territories of the heart. And like all meaningful maps, this one is made of broken paths, stitched tears, reference points that sometimes disappear in the fog.
The torn and reassembled canvas moves me deeply. How many times, in my field notebooks, have I had to repair pages torn by the wind or stained by the rain? Yet every patch, every mark of time becomes part of the story you are telling. Fosca knows this: wounds are not mistakes to hide; they are necessary chapters of the narrative. Like scars on the bark of an ancient oak, speaking of storms survived and springs rediscovered.
The nails piercing the surface serve the same purpose as the rings that allow ornithologists to track birds’ migrations: they mark vital points, moments when life paused to say “here,” “now.” What I see is not violence, but attention—the same attention needed to keep sight of a robin deep in the woods.
And then there is the horse. Ah, what an extraordinary animal! In my years in Camargue, I learned to recognize the language of wild horses: every movement is a word, every whinny a complete sentence. Fosca’s horse carries that same restrained energy, a force that knows it must be governed yet never forgets the memory of freedom. It is the perfect animal to speak of love: powerful and fragile, generous and unpredictable.
But what strikes me most in this constellation is the color. That dawn blue and the rust-scented pink are colors every naturalist knows well: the first signs of a waking day, when nocturnal animals yield to diurnal ones, and for a magical moment, all worlds touch. It is the hour I saw herons rising from Burano’s waters, the hour when nature sheds its defenses and appears naked, vulnerable, magnificent.
Fosca’s technique, this patient weaving of marks reminiscent of ancient naturalists’ work, takes me back to my teachers, to those who taught me that to draw an animal, you must first learn to love it. Every tiny stroke, every nuance comes from hours of silent observation, from that form of respect only patience can teach.
Stars before us rather than above us: this is an insight every explorer understands at once. We must not look upwards, but forward, toward the horizon where discoveries hide. It is the same gaze I used following the wolf’s tracks in the Nebrodi or the bear’s traces in Abruzzo: a gaze that knows true adventure always begins with a step into the unknown..
Elephantus reminded me why I dedicated my life to nature: because in our relationship with the wild, we learn that every creature, every plant, every star, real or imagined, has a story to tell. And that we, little explorers on this wondrous planet, have the privilege and responsibility to listen to these stories and pass them on.
When you leave this gallery, do as I always do after my naturalist journeys: take with you a piece of what you have seen. Fosca’s constellation of love is now part of your explorer’s luggage. Use it when the path becomes hard, when the true stars seem too far away. I invite you to discover her other imagined constellations—doors to a delicate, rarefied world. Remember that love, like nature, always has the power to begin again, to reinvent itself, to find new paths toward the light
Fulco Pratesi
President WWF
