Brewer's Passage - SNIK
Forget Me Not
Internationally-acclaimed artists SNIK combine the creation of hand-cut, multi-layered stencils with haunting, ethereal portraiture from a male and female perspective. Their craft and progressive approach has seen the duo commissioned on walls the world over; in locations as diverse as Aberdeen, Stavanger, Miami and Hong Kong.
Copyright Liam Keown
The peaceful subjects portrayed in their work are paired with the cycles of growth and decay in the natural world. They are living murals that change organically as the eras pass.
Through this site-specific mural in Hereford, SNIK aim to connect the audience with one of the city's most valued and beautiful assets, the wildflower meadows. 'Forget Me Not' portrays a figure embracing and harmonising with the resilient presence of the native species that envelop her: columbine, bittersweet, meadow vetchling, hemlock, sea campion and forget-me-not.
SNIK artist Laura Perrett explains their creative process: "We predominantly focus on stencil art. You have simple multi-layer paintings like Pop Art, but we combine multi-layers and half tones and like to add our own elements to every single stage. We are very lucky that there are two of us, so one person can be focused on one part, and the other brings their element, so together it creates something unique."
"Part of our SNIK journey is keeping the element of environment and nature and bringing it together with portraiture. We like to show the element of decay, so whilst humans can mess it up, no matter what nature forces its way through. So, with the forget-me-not being included, we are saying: 'Don't forget about the environment or nature.'"
The artists have created a small wildflower meadow below the mural and local groups will be helping to maintain and take ownership of the garden. Here visitors will be able to learn about the plants depicted in the artwork, how they can get involved with meadow planting themselves, or just enjoy sitting in this new natural environment.
SNIK artist Nik Ellis concludes: "Even from the moment we started painting the wall, the local reaction was great. It really helps people to feel like their area has had some care put into it, particularly in places that are sometimes forgotten about."
This artwork is no.8 on the Hereford Public Art Trail.