Mural fights fire with fire

This is according to the owners of the home at the corner of Duncan Street and Sunbury Road in Victoria Park, the side wall of which is now emblazoned with a striking graffiti-style mural.

The owners, who wished to remain anonymous, said the reason they commissioned three local ‘aerosol artists’ to create the mural was, ironically, to combat graffiti vandalism.

‘The wall had been tagged a few times so one of the reasons we had the mural done was in an attempt to stop that from continuing,’ one of the property owners said. ‘There is apparently a code among these people where they won’t tag another work of graffiti, so that’s the idea here.’

One of the artists responsible for the mural was former Town of Victoria Park local and now Inglewood resident Ben Witherick.

Working under the name Konfucius, Witherick and fellow artists Joe Boin (aka Destroy) and Chris McBride (Idol) spent two weekends working on the colourful creation, which features the word ‘believe’ and a woman with long unfurling hair.

Witherick, whose work can also be seen at The Causeway Bar in Victoria Park, was full of praise for the homeowners.

‘It is such a gutsy and bold move for a family to take a forward step and really embrace street art,’ he said.

Victoria Park Mayor Trevor Vaughan said the Town was happy to see creativity and vibrancy in its streetscapes but added that residents planning to alter the facade of a building needed to gain approval under the Town Planning Scheme.

‘There needs to be rigour and governance around urban design and streetscape impacts of large pieces of artwork of this nature,’ he said. ‘It wouldn’t suit all buildings and locations.’