“What does a wall have that a canvas doesn’t?” asks Rome-based artist Alice Pasquini. Bursting with vibrant hues and tender optimism, Pasquini’s murals are driven by her ongoing interest in human emotion, relationships, and connection. Overarching themes so universal and timeless allow passersby to relate in some way, seeing images of curious figures peering at the world through binoculars with child-like wonder or floating weightlessly along a building.

As she blankets walls with large-scale pieces while traveling to different countries, the artist makes an effort to immerse herself in each culture. Pasquini developed her practice by deepening engagement with communities, resulting in depictions of intimate narratives unique to their environments. “Each mural I create represents a story, often of exclusion but more frequently of redemption,” the artist says. “This includes works in places like women’s prisons and shelters for minor immigrants. I call it contextual art—art that is born for a specific place and could not exist in the same way elsewhere. The scars of the city are the best canvases to bring value back to abandoned things.”

Pasquini is working on a publication and exhibition for her unpublished travel sketchbooks and preparing a large installation for Doctors Without Borders, which will be presented in October in Ferrara, Italy. See more on the artist’s website and Instagram.