Pelle di Lava, by Chiara Indelicato

It was love at first sight with Pelle di Lava and Chiara Indelicato. We already had the opportunity to enjoy the presentation of her book in the bookshop and to learn more about her practice and her commitment to bringing beauty and political and environmental awareness into dialogue.
We couldn’t be happier now that we will also be able to enjoy an exhibition of her work in the bookshop.

Chiara Indelicato, photographer and resident of Stromboli, explores in her work life on a volcanic island, where the inhabitants live with an acute awareness of a finite world, at the mercy of the elements. Under the ashes, between the sea and the fire, she questions how it is possible to survive in an environment with limited resources. Pelle di Lava has its origins in two disasters that occurred in 2022:A fire devastated the island’s vegetation, followed by torrential rains that caused mudslides that reached the village. Through this project, Chiara Indelicato offers a reflection on the climate emergency, calling for an animistic relationship with nature and the right to defend this living and fragile land, of which the volcano itself becomes a spokesperson. Developing her images with coffee, vitamin C, and sea water, without the use of polluting agents, she weaves an organic link between her process and the island, harsh and indomitable.

Stromboli is an island, a volcano, a microcosm in the heart of the Mediterranean that embodies the global challenge of the climate emergency. In recent years, the island has been ravaged by a series of disasters—fires, mudslides, eruptions—that make the reality of the ecological threat tangible, generating a lucid and rational fear. Neither human nor urban development on the island is immune to the dramatic consequences of these events.
Pelle di Lava, in its approach that is both plastic and political, addresses the fragile balance of cohabitation between man and volcano, between sedimentary time and everyday time.
Behind these images lies careful observation of the territory and technical research consistent with the meaning of the project. All the photographs are made entirely using processes that employ only non-toxic substances: coffee, vitamin C, and sea water. The material itself becomes language: the dark tones evoke volcanic rock, while the printing process restores the photographic gesture’s connection with the environment. In this way, the work is rooted not only in representation but also in practice, where every choice reflects the intention to capture both the sign and the meaning with precision