Roots

“Roots”
13 meter x 6.6 meter.
Spraypaint on brick wall.
Schagen, west Friesland, NL.
Project for Writersblock murals
Tymon de Laat 2022.

This mural tells a story about the history of the tulip. Most Dutch people see this as one of the most iconic products that come from the Netherlands, some others (like myself) thought the tulip comes from Turkey but neither are true. The tulip originates from the Central Asian region, around Afghanistan Syria, Iran and Kazakhstan. When I was asked to come up with a design for a mural in Schagen, which lies amidst the tulip region of NL, this unknown fact to me triggered this concept. Each of these countries see the tulips as part of them selves and yet we share the history. Sometimes we forget that most of us drive a German car, eat Italian and Chinese food and most likely sleep or sit on something out of Sweden.

In this work the model Fariba Ahmadi is a metaphor for the tulip. Both her and the flower have a Dutch identity but find their roots in Afghanistan. And serve as a reminder that we are all from this earth no matter was lines may have been drawn in the sand and we can embrace other like they are our own. Our roots all grow in the same direction.

Further more I have incorporated the Schagen flag colours yellow and red and also the linework in her face are based on the city coat of arms.

 

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De Laat started painting murals and canvases, often based on his own photographs of the people he met during his travels. He exaggerates the natural lines in their faces, and fills the spaces that appear between those swirling lines with swaths of vivid color. The linework and color palette he applies in that way, are a means of translating his memories of Latin America to visual imagery. The food, the architecture, the clothes, and particularly his respect for the culture of indigenous peoples; it’s all in there, as de Laat transitions it over to enliven drab Western concrete.

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