Ethereal Street Art of a Woman in a Flower Crown Pops Up in London Underpass

modern met mai 10, 2023

Ethereal Street Art of a Woman in a Flower Crown Pops Up in London Underpass

Photo: Doug Gillen

After a two-year break from creating outdoor work in the UK, British street art duo SNIK is back. While the World Decays is the title of this mural, which sits in an underpass in South East London. Organized by London Calling Blog, the portrait of a woman in a flower crown is executed using stencils in their halftone style.

Thanks to documentation by several photographers, we're also able to see how SNIK brought their vision to life. Stencil art is all about preparation, and the photos show the duo carefully unrolling the paper stencil matrixes on the wall. After spraying the stencils, it's then all about touching up the gaps for a seamless final product.

This type of work looks even better from a distance, when the halftone effect is maximized and the woman's features pop. Her closed eyes and dreamy look falls in line with SNIK's ethereal portraiture, which is a modern twist on Pre-Raphaelite sensibilities.

Theirs is one of 100 pieces of street art introduced to the Penge neighborhood thanks to London Calling. Ben Eine, Stinkfish, and Alice Pasquini are just some of the numerous artists who have transformed this suburb into an open air museum.