Waterford Walls fest meets colourful end
Waterford Walls ended last weekend.
Ireland's largest street art festival celebrated its 10th year in the Déise.
For the last two weeks, the city has bloomed once again with the Waterford Walls festival.
Over 40 artists from around the world came to the Déise to bring their unique visions to the public.
At the Waterford Gallery of Art (WGOA), artists Ed Hicks, Shane O'Malley, JEKS and KMG sat down with Pippa Halley to talk about art, technique and inspiration.
Scottish artist KMG spoke about the influence of Celtic story-telling in her work.
On Newport Square, she created a mural of Celtic goddess Mórrigan, a figure with a "bit of a bad rep", according to KMG. She continued: "Associated with war, destiny and fertility her main role was actually said to be guardian of her territory and its people."
English artist Ed Hicks created a dramatic mural depicting the apocalypse (or the Second Coming, depending on your state of mind) on Green Street, Ballybricken.
He said of his mural: "I decided to just stick to landscapes and backgrounds and where the background becomes the foreground, where there isn't any kind of focal point, or there isn't the eye of the duck.
"It may seem like the end, it may seem like the beginning. It's kind of... it's up to the viewer."
Ed recommended seeing the mural at dusk or dawn, when the colours are most in tune with the sky.
Irish artist Shane O'Malley spoke about the process behind his mural on Bridge Street, that he had only completed moments before the panel talk.
He spoke about the stark difference between creating art in a private, closed-off studio and creating a mural in public.
He said: "It's on a street that's very narrow, you have people walking down the street who are angry that the street is blocked and there's traffic down there so that creates a more intense environment."
JEKS spoke about his work in creating hyperrealistic street art. The American artist created the vibrant mural of Irish Olympian Rashidat Adeleke on Jenkin's Lane, a work that took two days to create.
Each artist spoke warmly about the festival and the trust they felt from not just the organisers, but the public.
KMG commented: "It's humbling. It's nice to be invited to places and for people to trust you, to create work on the street for a community.
"They're putting their trust in using artists. I think that's quite special."
Ed added that the ego of the artist takes a backseat when creating public art for the community: "Once you put something out into the world, you don't necessarily own it. Hopefully, the things that stay are the things that connect with people."
