INTERNO DI FAMIGLIA

Author: Anna Paola Lacatena

The story gives voice to the thoughts of a couple and their son as their separation becomes inevitable. The parents look back with tender melancholy on what once bound them together, quietly accepting that the love of their early days has faded away. Yet it is the son’s voice, saved for last, that reveals the deepest wound: beneath his struggle to appear happy, as he’s been told to be, lie anger, confusion, and the desperate need to believe he is not to blame. Through his words emerges the quiet truth of someone who understands he cannot save what is ending, but still hopes that love might survive in mutual respect.

Questa illustrazione nasce dal pensiero di un figlio che osserva la fine dell’amore tra i suoi genitori. L’illustrazione dà forma alla sua voce silenziosa, sospesa tra la rabbia e il bisogno di capire. Ho voluto rappresentare la fragilità del suo equilibrio: l’obbligo di essere felice e il peso di ciò che non può cambiare. This piece is inspired by the inner voice of a child witnessing the end of his parents’ love. The illustration gives shape to his silent turmoil — caught between anger and the need to understand. I wanted to capture the fragility of his balance: the duty to be happy and the weight of what he cannot change.

Client: L'Osservatore Romano
Year: 2025
Tools: Pencil, digital