MURAL BY ALEY WILD

“I said I’m looking to paint a mural because I’ve never painted one before and Vandal said great; we have a wall.”

Aley Wild is a freelance illustrator from San Francisco, her illustrations focus on embodiment, diversity and feminine power.

Aley designed and hand painted this ginormous mural stretching 8 metres long and 6 metres tall over 5 days.

“The mural is based on a drawing I did a while ago where I was imagining my ideal emotional support animal which was a really fluffy big lion I could lie on with a fluffy pompom head who’s really happy,” said Aley. “The other symbolism is related to a theme which I have been dealing with a lot in my art and in my personal life this past year which is surrender; that’s where the giant jellyfish floating above the woman and the lion come from.”

“The butterflies I painted have two sets of eyes – one of the sets of eyes is closed and one of the sets is open representing awareness and the journey towards it and how there are different fluxes of awareness.”

“I feel wonderful, I’m so used to working in a sketchbook and looking at my work on an iPad or computer screen, it feels really great to see it on a wall and on a large scale and I feel proud of that,” said Aley. “People are reacting really positively; I found the whole experience to be a great way to get to know the people in the neighbourhood.”