From Manhattan to San Diego to Cleveland, neighborhoods known for their Italian-American populations have endearingly been called Little Italy, where facets of the Mediterranean nation’s culture and cuisine are preserved and celebrated. For artists Lorraine Loots and Dina Brodsky, who both create work on a very small scale, a trip to Italy and a collaborative body of work proved to be a wonderful way to explore this theme quite literally.

Little Italy, Brodsky and Loots’ duo exhibition on view now at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia chronicles the artists’ trip to the country through itty bitty paintings.