Street art goes 3D

Streets are the perfect canvas for American artist Tracy Lee Stum, who has carved a niche for herself internationally as a three-dimensional street painter. Stum, who in 2006 created a Guinness World Record for the largest chalk painting by an individual, aims to spread awareness about climate change and conduct workshops on 3D painting. 

Excerpts from an interview…

 

A: Both need special craft and skills. For 3-D street paintings, one needs to have a deep imagination to infuse three-dimensional illusion. Unlike canvas paintings, you have to set a viewpoint and keep the climactic conditions in mind. Besides, street painting demands a lot of physical work.   

 

A: I happened to see a street painting in my hometown in 1998 and I just fell in love with it. I have been interested in painting and art since my childhood. I even used to run a professional painting studio in California. Realising that three-dimensional art could have  greater impact, I began to add three dimensional illusions to art from 2004.

A: The beauty of street painting is that you can draw it anywhere, any time. Passers-by on a street stop to look at a street painting, at least once,  out of curiosity. And with 3-D paintings, the impact is even bigger

 

A: I am from California and it’s a very beautiful place — being close to the beach and nature. However, climate change is spoiling the natural beauty everywhere in the world. And I’m trying to create an awareness. 

 

I am soon planning to draw a big street painting of 16 ft x 100 ft on a theme related to environment.