Bay Area/ San Francisco
Published on October 16, 2017
New Mural 'Telepathy' Rises Above BuzzWorksPhoto: Zippy Downing/COLabs

Two Italian artists have come together to create a new mural on top of BuzzWorks at 365 11th St. (between Folsom and Harrison) in SoMa.

Alice Pasquini's first trip to California led her to San Francisco, where a friend said there was a wall that was perfect for her, the artist told us. 

She initially came to the state to install a mural in Los Angeles, but she drove up to San Francisco for the opportunity to collaborate with another Italian artist, UNO, to install the piece atop BuzzWorks. 

The mural is called Telepathy, and features two women on different sides of the wall, both having the same thought, Pasquini said. 

Telepathy spans the wall above BuzzWorks. | Photos: Vlad Cood/BuzzWorks

Pasquini’s work tends to feature humans, while UNO does more patterns and geometric shapes. It was the first time the two artists have worked together, and they spent three days working on the piece. 

UNO painted the origami cranes that fill the space between the women, and the geometric wallpaper that unites the piece from behind.

While each origami crane represents a different idea, there is one golden one to represent “the idea,” Pasquini said. “We all have many ideas, but only a few are ones that stick,” she said. 

An idea represented by a golden crane.

Despite being painted on an exterior wall, the wallpaper suggests the women are in an interior space.

The two artists brought together two different points of view and different artistic styles to create an artwork that encourages people to pause for a private moment in a public space, Pasquini said. 


Pasquini has worked around the world, and she said that while cities have different cultures and different colors, the feelings and emotions are the same. 

"It is sometimes hard to talk about happy things," when the world is full of hardship, she said. "You can speak about peace in the world, but if you don’t practice it in your everyday life, it won’t materialize."

Pasquini enjoys using walls as a canvas because her works are ephemeral. She is inspired by the walls themselves and things found in the surrounding neighborhood, including its people, which are not static.

Similarly, UNO’s wallpaper behind Telepathy fades, as life tends to do, Pasquini said. 

The geometric wallpaper by UNO fades at the edge of Telepathy.

Although this was her first trip, Pasquini has already made her mark on the city. The artist has headed back to Italy, but she hopes to have a longer visit in San Francisco next time.