Old & Young I

About this work

In this street-art work I wanted to capture a moment of connection between generations. The image shows an older man who, leaning on his walking stick, walks hand in hand with his grandson. Their silhouettes are deliberately kept in black and white, as though they were memories left behind on a weathered wall — traces of time, life and stories. The old wall on which the image appears symbolises the past. The peeling paint, the cracks and the bricks beneath tell of time, decay and history. Yet out of that same wall a new story grows: the meeting between youth and old age.

The red kite the boy is holding forms the only strong accent of colour in the work. For me this kite stands for hope, dreams and the future. While the grandfather carries the wisdom of the past, the child holds the imagination of what is to come. The kite rises up, as though connecting both generations in a line between earth and sky. The hand they hold is perhaps the most important element of the work. It is a gesture of trust, guidance and love. The older man not only leads the child forward literally, but also symbolically passes on his experiences and the lessons of a life.

Street art often comes into being in public space and speaks directly to everyone who walks past. That is why I chose a simple, powerful composition: two figures, a wall and a kite. Together they tell a universal story about time, memory and the quiet passing on of values from one generation to the next. Ultimately, for me, this work is about continuity: how the past shapes us, how the present connects us, and how the future, like the kite, always keeps reaching upwards for new possibilities.

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