Riccarda de Eccher, alpinist and artist

DREAMING FREE FROM NEED

R.d.E. embodies ori-geniality, that mechanism of professional dreaming that enables us to break free from self-imposed constraints and the need to conform to others’ expectations. It offers ideas, insights, and opportunities—even in the form of coincidences and meaningful events—designed to nurture talents and brilliance we may not even realise we possess. Such was the case with painting for R.d.E.

R.d.E.’s dreaming is free from need.

Instead of following a predefined path within the family business, she seeks complete autonomy, embracing her essence as an explorer.

The mountain, a symbol of spiritual elevation, emerges in her journey as a young mountaineer, fulfilling her deep-seated need for self-affirmation, the search for identity, independence, and freedom.

After various entrepreneurial and life experiences that take her far from the mountains, even to the United States, a significant event brings the mountain back to the centre of her life—but on a path she had never explored before. A young nephew asks her, “Auntie, what flower is this?” The alpinist who had “trodden upon” mountains all her life realises she doesn’t know their flowers. To remember their names, she begins to paint them. She buys a box of watercolours. It’s love at first sight.

At the age of 50, R.d.E. answers the visceral call of the mountain, making it the sole subject of her watercolours. As an artist, she experiments with mediums and techniques to explore two truths: the truth of the mountain itself and the truth of her own feelings for the Dolomites. She moves forward in her journey of liberation from need: she works for herself, requiring no external validation.

Her artistic exploration unveils intimate and original aspects of her personality—mirroring that of the mountain—with its light and shadow, strength and fragility, courage and vulnerability, ruggedness and softness. This process makes her stronger and even more independent.

Her relationship with the mountain becomes maternal, one of protection and preservation. An alchemy occurs: R.d.E.’s two professional identities merge, like colours blending on paper. She discovers herself as an artist while climbing and as a mountaineer while painting.

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