With this project, Lisa Gelli returns to her hometown of Empoli. The artist, who works as an illustrator, art director, and muralist, is known for her watercolor-like style that blends vivid colors within a suspended, dreamlike atmosphere. In creating her works, Lisa Gelli consistently seeks a deep dialogue with the surrounding territory, placing mutual listening at the center and allowing herself to be influenced by the context around her. Despite their strong communicative complexity, her mural works always convey a profound need for connection and social interaction with those who experience them.

For this work, Lisa Gelli drew inspiration from the book La profezia della Curandera by Hernán Huarache Mamani: “The curandero does not heal only the body or the individual soul, but heals the entire community. […] to spread a message of respect for Nature and the attainment of greater spirituality in order to give rise to a loving and peaceful society.”

The artist explored the theme of care in depth, focusing in particular on the work of care that many people carry out on a daily basis and on its implications.

The mural is arranged across the two façades of Eco Park, each of which is occupied by a Curandera. These two large figures protect and define the space, symbolizing care not only as understood in Western medicine but in a broader sense, also encompassing the personal and collective spiritual dimension.

The area in which the artwork is located has been revitalized thanks to a major regeneration project in which urban art plays a central role, restoring identity, beauty, and meaning to a space that for 25 years had been occupied by an “eco-monster.” Today, these spaces are being returned to the community with a multipurpose center serving local residents, and Lisa Gelli’s artwork seems to embrace the new structure that will house it.

The Curandera on the left, with her arm, protects a symbolic nest depicted at the base of the wall, a gesture of care toward past generations, fostering a sense of rooted and widespread solidity. The Curandera on the right, instead, with her hand turned upward, supports what is both a nest and a bowl filled with food, as a sign of offering, openness, and welcome toward future generations. Together, the two figures represent care in its dual nature as protection and support.

ALTRO