It is said that a “picture is worth a thousand words.” Murals are pictures and therefore suggestive and expressive and very powerful. Artist Matt Shapira uses his murals of Roaming Elephants to shed light on the plight of these magnificent creatures: Loss of habitat, being poached for their ivory, spending their lives in captivity. He believes that in order to see the world, you must “Roam like an elephant,” and that his murals depict the feelings he gets when he thinks of the giant creatures. He has painted these murals throughout the world, including Nepal, Thailand, Zambia, France, Jamaica, Wales, England, India, Niagara Falls, Missouri and now, Port Orford, Oregon. Painting in different countries and locales, he listens to the voices behind him—the languages, the dialects—and they influence the color palette he chooses to create each unique mural. They become the “undercurrent, subtle and symbolic.”
Kathee Woods