World-renowned street artist makes his mark

A MONUMENTAL new mural created by prolific Wollongong-based graffiti writer and street artist PHIBS has emerged along the entire Mitchell Lane side of La Trobe University’s Emporium Creative Hub.

The new piece was commissioned by the uni and curated by local street art collective Nacho Station to welcome students navigating their studies and early adult life.

Securing PHIBS (aka Tim De Haan) represented somewhat of a coup for Bendigo, whose many works can be found in Sydney, all over Melbourne (especially Fitzroy), as well as notable public art meccas New York City, Berlin and Amsterdam.

De Haan said he became interested in art-making after moving with his mother from Narooma on the south coast of New South Wales to Sydney at the age of 13.

“We ended up moving to the lower North Shore, which was very working class at the time,” he said.

“I was already interested in art and culture, but as soon as I saw all the graffiti along the railway corridors, I became obsessed.

“At that point I was more into the risk-taking and getting up to mischief, which I’m pretty sure gave my mother a nervous breakdown.”

He said “after a few run-ins with the law here and there” he began trying to work out how he could still pursue his obsession, legally.

“It was hard to get a foot in the door, but I did manage to find ways to turn it into a career and I haven’t looked back since then,” he said.

“It’s become my identity, it’s become what I do and it’s something I’m very passionate about.”

De Haan said his latest Bendigo commission came about from an existing connection with fellow local mural enthusiast, Nacho Station’s Reece Hendy.

“Even though we’re from different parts of Australia, we all know each other, especially in this day and age with social media,” he said.

“It was a very loose brief.

“Reece already knew the subject matter that I paint – a lot of my stuff is quite abstract and done in a very stylised manner, which is my signature style and what a lot of people know me for.

“Knowing that I’m into animals, he selected the colony of grey-headed flying foxes in Rosalind Park and also eastern grey kangaroos – apparently a lot of them hang out on campus at the uni – as starting points.

“It’s also a section close to the bus stop which gets tagged quite heavily, so I think Reece got me on board because he knows that my work would potentially be respected by the taggers.

“If anything, it could set a standard and maybe encourage a few of them to try doing this type of stuff professionally.

“You never know, it’s open for people to mess up if they choose, but I’m glad to say the majority of the public appreciate it.”

Visit phibs.com.