RUSSIAN street artist Julia Volchkova, whose murals grace the walls of buildings in Balik Pulau and George Town, is back in Penang for the third time. 

Even at a young age, she was interested in art and with the support of her parents, had pursued a degree in art and design at the Nizhnevartovsk State Art University in Siberia. After graduating, she lived in St Petersburg and gained fame for her street art.

As invitations to paint poured in from all over the world, a businessman who was looking to invest in Penang invited her to paint a mural in George Town. Her murals are a showcase of her remarkable talent in capturing human expression as well as her knowledge of the local history and community, gleaned from research, in the area where her artwork is displayed.

On her first visit in 2014, she spent three months painting several murals in George Town. “The Child” at Prangin Canal was her first mural in Penang. It depicts an Indonesian boy who appears to be biting the collar of his t-shirt.  Next was “The Indian Boatman”, accomplished after after much research into the local Indian community in Sia Boey. 

Subsequent visits to Penang took her to Balik Pulau where she painted the “Fisherman Mending His Net,” “Silat Master” and “Hakka Girl”.

Her latest work is a 6x10m picture on the side of a block of flats next to the wet market in Batu Lanchang. The yet to be named mural depicts the 87-year-old grandmother and two-year-old daughter of William Oon, who is half-paralysed after a stroke in October.

Volchkova, who met Oon’s family for insight into their lives, hopes her mural will touch the hearts of the people of not just Penang, but around the world. – October 16, 2018.