The recognizable mural in Tampa also known as “The Whale & The Parrot” created by Alessandro Etsom take direct inspiration from Florida’s territory and the surrounding context. Images of leaves take the form of animals, such as this Humpback Whale and Scarlet Macaw, belonging to both an aquatic, terrestrial or fluvial environment, referring to the distinctive variety of Florida’s peninsular coastline.

The artist integrates native species of leaves into the compositions, often collected in the immediate circumstances of the works to give them a strong bond and sense of belonging to the place of intervention. With these images, he invites a reflection on the plurality of points of view with which reality must be observed, implying that there is never a single interpretation of things.

The observer has the choice of admiring the figure in its entirety or getting lost in the details and facets of the individual elements that compose it.

Photo by Greg Bryon