I made this mask for a play based on the figure of Ryunio, the dragon king's daughter. The girl, appearing in the Lotus Sutra, gets her enlightenment instantly, as a female and in her present form of reptile - despite all the traditions and conventions of the time (500 years B.C. approximately). Let us not forget that at the time of Shakyamuni women were considered inferior and impure, so they were denied any chance to reach enlightenment. This mask does not close, hide or cancel identity; on the contrary, it opens it to all sides and directions, it builds it and it manifests it openly. It is like a skin that expands in space. It is open; it shows it wounds as well as its own strength. It is white, the sum of all colours in the universe. It is rich, shining, welcoming and it sheds light all around. My theatrical experience of acting the part of Ryunio was a turning point in my life. I wrote the text of the character I was to perform, publicly showing my own karmic suffering. I determined at the time that I was strong enough to stand up on my own - despite thenegative environment around me and despite my own underestimation of my value and abilities as a human being. I decided to illuminate my past and focus on the present and the future. I also designed and built the costume I wore during the play: Ryunio permeated my existence so much that I became one person with her. From the first day of rehearsals, I immediately identified with the character of this creature - trapped in herfemale and reptile body - that, despite everything and everyone, reaches an immense state and opens the way of enlightenment to every living being. The content of the mask is openness, just as the content of the play was the opening of Ryunio’s life and the "transformation of poison into medicine", that is, of every obstacle and problem in fuel to grow. The skin of the mask disperses, moulds itself, decomposes to reveal that the inside and the outside are interpenetrating and are substantially one thing. What is transient in the mask is the "crumpled" form that seems to accommodate the environment;the form could be different without altering the strength of the work. What is original is the internal energy that dissolves the skin of the mask intoits environment. This mask manifests its inner condition of extreme openness and growth. Twenty-nine years of meditations and spiritual awareness, as well as life experiences, have passed since the mask of 1990 (Euclid’s mask). The result of those efforts is something very simple, immediate, and impressive with its freshness. On the one hand, the "skin" of the mask that exfoliatesshows a process of stripping, of inner excavation, on the other the permeation between skin and environment indicates a new harmony achieved between myself and the world, between the individual and his/her social environment.