Iason Ali introduces us to the drawings of Little Sotiris, a figure craving to stay forever in the safety of the cave. Iason Ali focuses on the perception of the artists's studio as the beginning of it all, the matrix, the cavity from where the journey begins.

Iason Ali (Stories) - Little Sotiris (Drawings) 

Little Sotiris would now be seven years old. But, he remained six forever. He was in sixth grade and he liked to lie on his stomach on the carpet of  kindergarten and his room. You could say he was a shy kid. He didn’t speak much, he preferred to observe and feel.

He was stigmatized by some violent incidents at home and at school. Violence is not pleasant for anyone, but it shook him more. He did not trust his parents to share with them what hurt him. He kept it all to himself. Think of a child who never exhales, only inhales. It may sound weird, but Sotirakis had memories from his mom's belly. Smells, sounds, temperatures, textures all crystal clear. With each passing day, he became more and more frustrated with people. Young and old. From their way of life, from the way they treated each other.

 Thus, his need was to return back to his mother's womb. His father did not treat him or his mother well. He told him things he did not want to know, he took him to places that scared him, he introduced him to bad people. He quarreled in front of him several times, in fact once he was almost faught with someone. At that time Sotirakis felt his chest burning, he had difficulty swallowing, his hands were numb, and his eyes were tingling as he tried not to cry. At such moments it felt like a cat being violently grabbed by the neck and put on fire.

Little Sotiris was on his bicycle. He pinched his fingertips with pins, made animal voices, he liked crayons, he felt that he could not chat with anyone, he was ashamed to look others in the eyes. He had nail scratches on his back. One autumn he rode his bicycle around the house. He stood for a while where the asphalt stopped and the soil started. The sun hid from the clouds. He got off his bike, took off his shoes and stepped barefoot on the ground. He felt a vibration. He approached his ear and heard the underground roar. He believed that below was the "Best Cave of Love". So since he could not return to his mother's womb, he hoped he could return to his older mother. Mom of everything. Earth. The way he came back was not very nice to describe. Now Sotirakis exists in another dimension, the same as here, only he exists alone. He found the cave, where he spends his hours painting.