'Reflections' - Wellington Dam

lumodesignstudios
Sep 5
2 min read

Updated: Oct 17

Guido van Helten (born 1986) is an Australian artist, famous for his gigantic photorealistic murals all over the world.

The 8000 square metre mega-mural - 'Reflections', is the World's largest dam mural. It took four months to complete and features images of Collie mines workers, families playing in the water, Aboriginal children and other scenes taken from actual photographs of Collie's history.

Words from Guido about his artwork:

"I came across KEIM paints for a few reasons. First, the quality and longevity. I can trust that my very large-scale murals will last. The weather can be really extreme in some locations where I am painting. This is going from really hot in Australia to minus 20 or 30 degrees in the Northern Midwest in the United States. I have seen silos that have been painted white 50 years ago. And when I arrived there was no more paint left. It is just due to the weather in this environment, the way that concrete absorbs and water. In the end, acrylic type paint products do come off. So, I spend a lot of time explaining this to people because I want my murals to be still there in 50 years.

My whole style has grown around the use of concrete. And I use concrete in a way that it is almost like watercolor. I am adding layers, thin layers, one after another, sometimes ten or fifteen. It is impossible to count. But that process gives me the effect that I like. I started reading about KEIM Design-Lasur about five years ago. Prior to that, I used to use aerosol paint. But KEIM paints are different: you have not artificial but only pure inorganic pigments. Plus, this painting method is as old as the first cave paintings.

All paints historically have been made from natural ochre and natural red oxide. This is present in ancient Australian art or Indigenous art. It makes sense to use something as close to nature as possible when working outside to match the environment. My mural on the Wellington Dam in Australia is the best example. You can see the earth and the rocks underneath this site. The colors in the rocks are yellow ochre and red oxide. Western Australia is known for its rich mineral environment. The mural perfectly matches with the environment, so much so that you cannot see where it starts or ends."