The facade on Weybosset is curated by the Avenue Concept which produces public art in various locations across Providence. The mural will be on display for the next 12 months.
Michelle Perez: Having people in the streets, having sound and movement return to the streets after a long winter, you know. So I wanted to also take inspiration from WaterFire. So this is, I took inspiration from the koi fish lanterns that they take down the canals in the summers. But instead of being upheld by kayakers, I thought of the people on bicycles on skateboards and everything that return to the streets in the summer, bring life back into the streets.
Yeah, I drew each panel individually, just the drawing without the color. And then last Monday night, I came here with my friend slash assistant, and we hooked up a projector to the other side of the street, and one by one went in with spray paint cans and sketched everything out pretty quickly. Had to accommodate for all the cars coming by, all the RIPTA buses, all the people walking in front of the projector, you know. So it was a fun night, I have to say.
I work a lot in contrasting colors, so I definitely wanted to play with, like, making sure the fish stands out enough from the background, and having all of the warmth in terms of color, the like fieriness concentrated on the fish, and then have everything else be a little cooler. As in contrast, more like water-like, you know. I think also, when I was putting the color in the figures, I wanted them to be in silhouette as if the sun is setting a little bit, you know? So I definitely wanted it to read kind of as nighttime as well. My main focus with this mural and with drawing it is to portray that sense of motion, to take advantage of the fact that there are five separate panels, but to maintain a fluidity and motion throughout, instead of treating them each as separate pieces.
I think you come in with a plan, but you also have to be open to changing on the fly in terms of what comes to you, what looks good on the wall, because you learn – now that this is my second mural that I’ve ever done – is that the drawing that you have on your small screen, you know, on an iPad or a piece of paper is different once you blow it up, and you have to adjust as you’re painting to fit the scale of it. When you step back, how does it look from a distance? How does it look close up? How does it look to people who are just walking right past it? I think all of that comes into play as you’re painting it.
My favorite part of doing murals is the opportunity to talk to people, to talk to strangers, to interact more with people who own local businesses. I think this has just been a great opportunity to get to know the neighborhood a little bit more.
I had the owner of the Custom House Tavern come by on his bicycle and pose in front of the first panel, as if he was the inspiration for it. He wanted us to stage a little picture for him. So that was nice. So I’d say that part mostly, the riders that are on the mural being reflected back on the street.
I like that it’s, you unintentionally come across it and unintentionally interact with it. I think, especially for the work that I do, I’m so used to it living online, or on smaller spaces and smaller scales, interacting with people who, yeah, have to directly come across it. So I think what I love about public art and about mural painting is that interaction with the everyday that a piece has, with everyday people, with the environment around it that I really appreciate. And that is a real difference from the art that I usually do.
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