Piero is a first-generation Italian artist based in Fitzroy, Melbourne. His practice revitalises and celebrates Italian / Calabrian legacies, drawing inspiration from Italian graphics, decorative arts, ephemera, and religious icons. His deep appreciation for Calabrian culture was nurtured by his upbringing at his family’s vineyard in Mildura, as well as days spent at his Nonna and Nonno’s house, and experiences living in Italy during his formative years.
How did the brief inspire you?
It took me back to sketchbooks from a trip to Mexico in 2009, just after swine flu when the plane was almost empty. That journey has stayed with me. I also drew on the images that shaped my early imagination of Mexico - childhood video games filled with Aztec landscapes and jaguar warriors, and films like Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
What elements did you draw on?
Mexico reshaped my colour language. I build palettes like a library, collecting tones from my first Derwent pencils through to today. I was inspired by fruit stencils sprayed on buildings, the colours of food markets, and the deep earth tones of mezcal - the drink of the gods.
What story do you want your work to tell?
All my paintings begin with black, then I strike them with colour. It’s a journey from darkness into light - echoing Genesis. The mood reflects the intensity I felt in Mexico: the sacred weight of jaguar warriors, the boldness of markets, the beauty of mezcal and food shared in the street.
What role does colour play?
Colour is memory. Each hue carries fragments - fruit stencils, mezcal glowing in candlelight, Oaxacan reds and oranges. Colour is how those experiences live on in my work.
Where do you imagine these works living?
In everyday spaces - kitchens, hallways, even bathrooms. Like the fruit stencils on Mexico’s streets, they belong where life really happens.
How do you hope people will feel?
I don’t tell people how to feel. For me, these works return me to Oaxaca, where I spent time with a shaman. One morning I watched a butterfly land on a flower and thought, life and nature are beautiful. If my paintings spark even a little of that wonder, I’ve done my job.
If you could return to Mexico…
Mexico City’s Museum of Anthropology is unmatched. I’d also love to go back to Oaxaca, to spend more time with the shaman I met there. The place itself, with its mezcal, jaguar myths, and food, feels alive with art and spirit. And honestly, if I wasn’t Italian, I wouldn’t mind being born Mexican.
Three words that sum up Ola Mexicola?
Vibrant. Spiritual. Alive.
