The Obsidian Void Wakes was conceived as a sister work to my 2023 mural, Snared Within the Banshee’s Nest, which lives behind my old studio building in our alley. Snared captured me in the act of building a studio, snaring and collecting artists into the back door of the old Astro Studio.
In the two years since, I’ve experienced the closure of two beloved spaces — yet out of those endings came transformation. What was once a sleeper cell of creatives has now mutated into Astro Club: a collective of 70 artists working under the Astro moniker.
As I designed The Obsidian Void Wakes, my thoughts reached beyond the personal story of loss and rebirth. I thought about the closing of the Vancouver Mural Festival
@vanmuralfest — a cultural furnace where, for nearly a decade, myself and many in our community poured fire into the streets alongside hundreds of other talents. That raging movement froze abruptly this February, crystallizing into cultural obsidian.
This work, then, became not just about connecting the old with the new. It is about the persistence of an inextinguishable force — a devoted, talented collective that refuses to dim. In August, we reignited, white hot. We brought the heat back to the streets of our city, liquifying the darkness between, and reemerging to the city we champion for.
@astroartsfestival
Production painting support by
@beadle_alex
Shot by
@brotherjopa
Proudly supported by
@hueandhammer @dunnedwards @whitbycapital @sunbeltrentals
#drewyoung #vancouver #vancouverart #vancouverartist #vancouvermural #vancouvermurals #mural #murals
