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Street Artist Paints Murals onto Melting Icebergs

Sean Yoro uses fractured slabs of ice as the canvases for his latest series of murals.
Images courtesy the artist

Our rising sea levels, brought on by massive melting glaciers, are one of the most visible manifestations of our planet’s rising temperature. History has shown that visual culture to be an effective rallying cry. In other words, most people won't believe it unless they see it with their own eyes.

This week surfboard painting street artist Sean Yoro, otherwise known as Hula, announced a new mural series entitled A’o ‘Ana (The Warning). Known for his serene waterside portrait murals, Hula applied a similar technique onto a selection of fractured icebergs from a melting glacier. The artist uses the area and space around the canvas—in this case a floating slab of ice—as a prop, with the water line as a frame and his figures illustrated to appear as though they are emerging from the sea. Hula tells The Creators Project, “I painted my murals on melting icebergs as a representation of people already being affected by climate change and the need for urgency in responding.” The fleeting condition of the mural, in that in a few weeks time they will melt, dissolve, and be lost forever, highlights the time sensitive nature of this issue. Yoro writes about the project on his website: “I hope they ignite a sense of urgency, as they represent the millions of people in need of our help who are already being affected from the rising sea levels of climate change.”

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For legal reasons, the locations of Hula’s murals are undisclosed, so we can’t tell you where these painted icebergs are floating, but we can tell you where these glaciers are getting hit the hardest. Melting glacier and rising sea levels were the subject of the first episode in VICE’s most recent HBO series; and VICE News’ column "The Tipping Point" closely follows international news on global environmental change.

Check out some images from his expedition below:

See more from Hula here.

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