Old & Young II

About this work

In this street-art work I wanted to create an image that speaks of the connection between past and future. The composition shows a grandmother and her grandchild walking hand in hand along a weathered wall. It is a simple scene, but the strength of the story lies precisely in that simplicity. The grandmother and grandchild are deliberately rendered in black-and-white stencil style, a language typical of street art. As a result they seem almost to stand on the wall as memories, as a moment fixed in time. The grandmother represents experience, memory and the life already lived. Her walking stick and calm bearing tell a story of time, wisdom and moments lived through.

Her grandchild beside her symbolises a new beginning, energy and the future. Their hands are firmly joined. That small gesture forms the heart of the work: it stands for care, trust and the passing on of values from one generation to the next. The only element in colour is the red balloon dog the girl is holding. This object refers playfully to modern art and contemporary culture, but it also carries a deeper symbolism. The balloon stands for imagination, playfulness and childlike fantasy. That it takes the form of a dog, a symbol of loyalty and friendship, reinforces the idea of connection.

The weathered wall with its peeling paint and exposed bricks symbolises the traces of time. But it is on precisely such a wall that new art comes into being. For me that is a metaphor for life itself: out of the past something new is always growing. With this work I want to show that despite the passing of time, despite wear and change, the human connection endures. The past walks hand in hand with the future, and sometimes it is precisely the playfulness of a child that reminds us that hope always keeps floating, just like that balloon dog in the air.

The blue border forms part of the Epoxy Liquid Gloss and is not a physical wooden frame.