Mural artist Lawrence Tan and his dog Midas have brought Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave to life in Hennessey Street, Belconnen. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave are icons of Australian music, and now they’re lighting up the back streets of Belconnen as the subject of a new house-side mural.
While a painting of two instantly recognisable musicians isn’t new, the way the mural was put together isn’t quite what you would expect, with a VR headset playing a major role in its creation.
The idea for the mural came after David, the owner of the house the mural is on, thought his home’s streetside wall looked a bit grim after removing the foliage around it.
To brighten the wall and add some colour, he turned to his friends, who recommended street artist Lawrence Tan.
Lawrence has painted over 50 murals across the ACT and NSW, but to help bring Kylie and Nick to life, Lawrence decided to use some new technology.
“I used my Meta Quest (VR headset) to map it out,” Lawrence said.
“We reached out to the original photographer of the image, Tony Mott, to get the copyright. I then uploaded it to this app on the headset.
“It allowed me to project the image onto the side of the walls. Traditionally, you would have to use a physical grid, a projector or some stencils. They all have limitations.
“For example, with a projector, you can only use it at night, or stencils are quite difficult to navigate. With the headset, I can use it at any time and still use both my hands.
“Once it’s mapped, I can walk up close to it, and the image sits there digitally like it’s been physically stencilled.”
Lawrence reached out to the original photographer Tony Mott for permission to use his iconic photo.
Lawrence said the tracing using the headset only took him an hour, compared to traditional methods that would have taken much longer.
Once mapped, it took Lawrence around 40 hours across several days to complete the artwork.
But now that the mural is complete, David said he couldn’t be happier with the result.
“I’ve always loved and admired Kylie. She’s been a constant in my life across her four-decade-long career,” David said.
“I find myself deliberately going outside each day to say hello to Kylie and Nick.
“I see the level of detail and the complexity of it, and it’s honestly so remarkable. It really is quite beautiful.”
David isn’t the only one blown away by the mural either.
“My neighbours actually wrote me a very nice card thanking me for the mural,” he said.
“It really is such a nice feeling that others have enjoyed seeing a little bit of colour in our part of Belconnen.
“For me, Kylie is such a family-oriented person who has a very special relationship with her sister and her brother. So for that image to bring this little part of the community together, it’s quite a nice feeling.”
