Verdant Landscapes and Burgeoning Plants Crawl Across Walls in ONIRO’s Vibrant Anatomical Murals
a large-scale mural of a potted plant that grows to reveal the silhouette of a person, who holds the pot

“Coltivazione del Sé” (2021), Cassino, Italy. All images © ONIRO, shared with permission

Greenery abounds in the large-scale murals of Italian artist ONIRO, who often focuses on themes of interconnectedness and balance, especially between humans and the natural world. In “Coltivazione del Sé,” or “self-cultivation,” a human form emerges from the leaves and shadows of a burgeoning plant, while an opening of sky between branches reveals a facial silhouette in an untitled mural on an olive oil processing workshop.

In 2022, ONIRO completed an ambitious series that links three neighboring communities along the Via Aurelia, an ancient Roman artery in Italy constructed around 241 B.C.E. that remains a busy commercial thoroughfare today. “Each mural is a necessary part for the others, like organs that form an organism, and which as a whole has a greater value than the sum of the individual parts,” the artist says.

The three pieces in Organismo, or “body,” are composed in a loose, painterly style to depict Gaia—the ancient Greek goddess who personified the earth—an island shaped like the human heart, and a peninsula shaped like lungs with flowing, bronchial inlets. Explore more on Behance and Instagram.

 

a mural of olive branches on the side of a building, which open up to reveal blue sky in the shape of a person's profile

Untitled, La Marina oil mill, San Donato Val Comino, Italy (2021)

a mural of a human heart that resembles an island as seen from above

“Organismo – Cuore” (2022), Comune di Castagneto Carducci, Italy

an overview of a city street with mural of a plant

“Coltivazione del Sé”

a detail of a mural showing the stems of a plant growing out of a terracotta pot

Detail of “Coltivazione del Sé”

a large mural of a verdant landscape viewed from above in which the land and water creates the shape of human lungs

“Organismo – Polmoni” (2022), Comune di San Vincenzo, Italy

an aerial overview of a mural in an Italian seafront town

Aerial view of “Organismo – Polmoni.” Photo by Francesco Luongo

a mural of a landscape overview in which the water bodies and land masses form the silhouette of a female figure representing Mother Earth

“Organismo – Gaia” (2022), Comune di Venturina Terme, Italy

a mural on the side of a building showing a river coursing through some mountains

“Casa del Fiume”

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