Lower Esplanade Mural in St Kilda by Mic Porter
The Creative Graffiti Pilot Program - Urban Canvas
Urban Canvas is the name given to a program funded by the State Government’s Community Support Fund, which is taking a creative approach to the Inner South Metro Mayors Forum (ISMMF) Graffiti Pilot Program 2021 – 2023. Six local councils of Bayside, Kingston, Port Phillip, Glen Eira, Stonnington and Boroondara have come together to initiate and focus on a proactive approach to graffiti mitigation and changing the current status quo of removing graffiti from third-party assets.
This mural is one of the 145 murals which have been initiated as part of this program and was included in the Urban Canvas Mural Festival as one of the Resene Activation funded projects.
We have been working alongside Vic Roads around an ephemeral solution to the ongoing issue of vandalism at this location and a large scale mural was selected as the best solution.
The Artist: Mic Porter
Michael 'Mic' Porter studied at the Victorian College of Art, graduating in 2003 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in sculpture. Following his studies, Mic spent 8 years working for his VCA supervisor at Perrin Sculpture Foundry in Cheltenham, where he had the opportunity to learn modern and traditional bronze casting techniques.
The foundry offered Mic the privilege of working alongside many of Australia’s leading artists on the execution of major commissions. This time spent at the foundry enabled Mic to hone his casting and sculpting techniques, resulting in the production of two large bodies of work.
Mic's practice spans a wide variety of media including large scale murals, bronze, stone and timber sculpture, painting and printmaking. Constantly working with new and found materials, Mic is able to experiment with new techniques, informing his artwork as it evolves.
Since then, Porter has become known as the creator of some of Melbourne’s most iconic street art: his clusters of distinctive, large-scale human heads represent some of Melbourne’s most unforgettable imagery.
Mic has lived and worked in the City of Port Phillip his entire life and has been part of the Graffiti and Street Art scene for over two decades and has painted numerous large scale mural throughout Melbourne and the world, because of his experience in both the contemporary and urban art worlds, he is respected by all for his unique and thought provoking aesthetic.
Mic was selected for this specific site for his aesthetic and style but also because of the respect his experience commands throughout the graffiti scene, as this location is the most vandalized wall in the municipality.
The Mural and Artwork: The figurative story of the body and life
Told within the trials and tribulations of Mic Porter’s personal experiences.
“The mural seeks to engender a sense of belonging through the individual's struggle within themselves and the environment they live in. The mural is framed by hands and feet at either end. From there the mind and body erupts in a frenzied transcendental expansion of our search for meaning within ourselves and our community. This community comes with its demons for those who are particularly exposed - the changing cycles of the weather, the physical and metaphorical animals that both predate and protect, as well as the psychic dysphoria's that plague our sense of self.
St Kilda is a place in which all types of people inhabit and search for themselves and their connectedness within the world. The vagabonds, the child within, the dogged chasers of the finer things as well as those striving for enlightenment in whatever form they can find are represented. A cyclical twist places them within the confines of the elements which can batter or bolster.”
The colours depicted throughout the mural are bright. Yellows / Purples / Pinks / Magenta / Blues / Teals
Below is the design provided by the Artist for reference.
