WILD GEESE FOR NELSON INTERNATIONAL MURAL FESTIVAL 2022

Situated on the rooftop of Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson, British Columbia, the mural I painted is titled and inspired by my favourite poem, Wild Geese. I found this poem in the book 'The Poetry Pharmacy – Tried-and-True Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind and Soul' by William Sieghart. Guided under Self-Acceptance, Oliver's words of 'Wild Geese' are prescribed when one feels lonely, lost or self-recrimination. ‘Wild Geese’ is situated on the rooftop of Kootenay Lake Hospital and faces the hospital's palliative care unit.

The main character in the piece is my little sister (who I used as a model for drawing reference). She represents a character that has strong wanderlust. The scene is based on a memory of feeding house sparrows from my hands while waiting at a train station in Europe, a distinct memory of feeling joy while travelling abroad on my own for the first time. This memory is combined in the setting of the poem, Wild Geese, and a place that would resemble Duck Lake in Kootenay.

The left-hand side of the wall explores surreal elements (a goldfish that swims through wild roses and Lewis's mock-orange between a birdhouse made from recycled corkscrews and a soup spoon). A perched Rufous hummingbird observes the interaction between the main character encountering the flight of an Australian Wood Duck. The symbol of a lotus flower patched on the back of the main character's shirt – represents my Vietnamese Chinese heritage. The lotus is often viewed as a symbol of purity as they rise from the mud without stains. Since they return to murky water each evening and bloom during the day's break, lotus flowers symbolise strength, resilience, and rebirth.