Sea Signals Ōtautahi
Location: Lyttelton Rec Centre
25 Winchester Street, Lyttelton, NZ
About the project: Sea Signals is a street art initiative bringing together the power of creativity and ocean conservation. This large-scale public art project is a collaboration between @flarestreetartfestival @pangeaseed and @watchthisspacechch, uniting local and international artists to create striking ocean-themed murals across the city.
As well as painting in the festival as one of 12 participating artists, I designed the visual identity for Sea Signals - posters, maps, marketing.
Lineup: BOND TRULUV, CHILE, DCYPHER, FINTAN MCGEE, INSA, KELL SUNSHINE, KOPHIE, MONTI, NICK LOWRY, PUNKY ALOHA, SEWER, TECHS
Artist Statement: Created in collaboration with environmental scientist Elizabeth Skelton, this mural imagines the Antarctic sub-ice world as a living, interconnected system.
A wise maternal ice figure forms the uppermost layer of the composition, calm and watchful beneath the sun whose gently filtered light makes all life below possible. At the centre sits an hourglass marking the passage of time. It is a reminder that the sub-ice platelet layer is dynamic, fragile, and precious.
Within the upper chamber, krill drift among light and shelter. Below, Antarctic silverfish gather in colder depths, while predators circle outside the glass, held at bay by the protective ice.
Symmetrically placed ice-crystal forms glow with microalgae, bacteria and protozoans, the invisible engines of the ecosystem. These primary producers and recyclers fuel a food web that cascades downward through zooplankton, fish, seals and birds. The vertical hierarchy of the mural mirrors this structure, showing how energy, protection and dependence shift from top to bottom within the SIPL.
Together, the imagery tells a quiet but urgent story. If time runs out for this hidden layer, the balance sustaining Antarctic life begins to fall away.
Photo by John Ross
