A colossal wall mural created by a Yarraville artist has taken out a coveted local prize.
Heesco has won the Street Art category of the inaugural Footscray Art Prize for his entry, Miss Citizen of the World.
The giant artwork is on display on building D of the VU Nicholson campus on the corner of Albert and Pilgrim streets in Footscray.
The 37-year-old celebrated street artist explains the mural is of a woman –
Miss Citizen of the World – dressed in centuries old traditional Mongolian dress along with modern fashion accessories, holding a smart phone.
Heesco, who was born and raised in Mongolia, said Miss Citizen stands tall and confident, embodying both old and new cultures of our ever-changing world.
“This image is from an ongoing theme in my current body of work, Heesco said. “It could be interpreted in a few different ways, and I’d want the viewers to decide what it means to them individually, rather than me dictating the meaning.
“It’s a public artwork, so now it’s mine as much as it is everyone else’s in the community, so the viewers should be welcome to provide meanings too.”
Heesco said he loved drawing and painting since he was a child.
Since moving to Australia in 1999, he has created many massive murals including a portrait of the late prime minister Malcolm Fraser on the side wall of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Footscray.
“I go with the flow and work with what comes up, and try and better myself along the way,” Heesco said.
“I’m not sure I have an ultimate goal as such, but I’m inspired by good people.”
