After Tymon had created the work "Smooth Sailing" on this building in 2019, the home-owners association asked him to expand his work on the other side of the building. Plans were initially made to paint this wall halfway up, but the ambition was increase to the entire height of the wall. At 35 meters, it became the highest wall ever painted by the artist.
Tymon took the changes that have shaped the city of Rotterdam in the last 10-15 years as inspiration for this work. Once a gritty, working-class and somewhat hard to navigate city, Rotterdam has been in transition to become more pleasant for the inhabitants and visitors. There is more green in the city, as well as public art. Together with the interesting architecture this makes the city more and more appealing.
As a metaphor for this development, he uses a young woman transitioning from adolescence into adulthood. Losing her puberty and flourishing into a beautiful young female with her gaze set on the horizon.
The artist took a photo of the girl during his travels on the pier in Santa Cruz (CA-US). He spoke to her briefly and asked her permission to use the photo. At the time he started this painting however, he had lost her contact info and name. A search campaign for the girl started on Instagram, and after some time she was found! The girls name is Ariel and she is from Washington state. When she found out her portrait was painted on this scale, she was filled with pride.
Access | Public |
---|---|
Artist nationality | The Netherlands |
Artwork subject | Portrait |
Artwork type | Mural |
Building | Residential |
Camera used | Canon EOS R |
Commissioned | Home owners |
Date created | 2024-10-17T22:00:00.000Z |
Height | 34 |
Width | 4 |
Marker type | artwork |
City | Rotterdam |
Country | Netherlands |
What3Words | molars.bikers.bags |