Armed with little more than a paddleboard and a paintbrush, a Hawaiian muralist is using the rise and fall of the ocean’s tides to create his latest work in New Brunswick.
Sean “Hula” Yoro paddles to his studio each morning: an eight-metre-high wall in the Saint John harbour. There, he balances on the board and works on a massive painting of a woman, her hands and face just breaching the water’s surface.
The tide plays a key role in the artwork. From a practical standpoint, Yoro uses the varying sea levels to reach different areas of the painting. Artistically, the tide adds to the story.
“It’s kind of an open interpretation,” Yoro told CTV News. “Is she emerging from the water, and when the tide’s coming back up, is she drowning? What’s going on? I love that mystery of it all.”
That interaction between land and sea has become Yoro’s trademark. He’s painted similar works at the edge of a waterfall, on icebergs and against an old sunken ship.
The Saint John marketing office noticed Yoro’s work on television and decided to extend an invitation.
“So we sent him a message and said, ‘Have you ever heard of the highest tides on the planet? Because we got them here in Saint John and we’d love to host you,” said Victoria Clarke from Discover Saint John.
For the New Brunswick piece, Yoro said settling on the best concept was tricky.
“I’ve designed, like, 15 different pieces for this wall just because I was so excited. So we kind of narrowed it down to one. It was really exciting to just think of all the possibilities,” he said.
The drastic nature of the tides means that the artist’s schedule is often at the mercy of the ocean. He says he’s been at the wall well past midnight painting by the light of a headlamp.
The scene has drawn plenty of admirers down to the harbour. Herzl Kashetsky, an artist himself, said he was astonished by the mural’s size.
“I’m fascinated by the fact that he’s working on such a large scale and in such a difficult situation,” he said.
With a report from CTV’s Atlantic Bureau Chief Todd Battis
