Year
2022
Medium
Latex Paint, Spray Pain

In 2022, I was commissioned by the Vancouver Mural Festival to design and paint a mural titled "I am a human being" in the West End of Vancouver, honouring ted northe.

My artist statement:

This mural depicts ted northe, an influential gay-rights activist and drag queen, extending his arms out to a community of hands matching colours representing bands of the Progress Pride flag. He helped organize protests and fostered community building since the 1950s, contributing to the structure of LGBTQS2+ policy and rights in Canada, including the decriminalization of homosexuality on June 27, 1969. With this mural, Matt wanted to show ted northe's personality and energy passing through to the community. His hands form a cloud of unique shapes—forms Matt uses often uses in his work to communicate our unique identities. He hopes that by seeing this mural, people can remember ted northe, and get inspired to learn more about ongoing LGBTQS2+ activism in Canada.