Flowers for the Friends who Picked Me Up
- Title
- Flowers for the Friends who Picked Me Up
- Creator
- Michael Roy, whose artist name is Bircap, grew up in Southern Mississippi, who as a boy, spent his days swimming, playing with friends, and doing everything a normal child would. Growing up Michael studied painting at Memphis College of art. This was just the start of his career; Michael Roy became more of a muralist when he moved to Seoul, South Korea. The name Birdcap was born during his time in Korea. The meaning behind Birdcap is to pay homage to the south where he grew up and about the issues that his home city faces. Birdcap uses a cartoon-like style in his artwork. Birdcap uses colors that are similar to what you would see on a morning cartoon. By using a nostalgic look to his artwork, Birdcap covers a wide range of topics like grief, morality, and political upheaval.
- Date
- Date of creation: 11/25/2024
Date of documentation: 11/26/2024 - Description
- Composition: Looking at the composition of this mural, there are two larger than life looking figures. To take it all in, you need to look at this mural from a distance. The faces cover over half of the wall, but it’s important to note that their arms and hands also take up space in the middle. Both figures are holding hands showing a sign of unison. Looking at the higher portion of the piece we see a red bird placed between both of the figures. This bird must be important, since both eyes of the figures are fixated on it. The figures themselves compose nicely, there is a lot of curvature between the two bodies that makes the art flow in a good pattern. Color: The colors shown in this mural are very simple. All of the primary colors are being used in this mural. Both red and blue are repeated throughout the mural, and all three are used to create the color white used in the eyes. I was very struck at the bright blue faces of the figures at first glance. The figures are the only blue in this mural, there are also many white dots shown throughout the bodies, arm, face, and chest. All of the flowers, background, and flowers are painted red, and have glares of white in them to help provide texture. Line: Within this mural, there are many forms of lines. Looking at the figures, those lines have a lot more curvature than do the lines on the bird above them, where these lines are more sharp and jagged. This can also be seen with the flowers. The flowers have a mixture of curves coupled with pointy and jagged lines. Texture: There is a lot of smooth surfaces shown on the mural. This is greatly contrasted with the specks and dots shown in the mural as well. The wavy and pointy like end on the flowers also help provide texture throughout the mural. Space: First thing to look at, is how this is a 2-D surface, however the artist is creating an 3-D illusion. One thing to look at is the holding of hands in the middle, creating an overlap. There is also some shading on all of the figures. Looking at the faces and the bird in the middle, these figures are very bright to bring it closer to the surface. Looking at the bodies of the figures, they are darker, this helps show that they are farther from the surface.
- Subject
- This mural by Birdcap was to bring homage to his friends. The tall and biggest figure on the left is lifting the lower figure on the right up. This was to show how Birdcap's friends lifted him up during his low times and to show that friends are there to help you when times get tough. To pay his friends back, he put flowers throughout the mural as way to gives thanks and show appreciation. The phoenix is a symbol of how people burn out and can come back through their own ashes into something stronger. This is done by the help of the friends you have around you. This mural also brought homage to Birdcap's friend, Sydney James.
- Rights
- Artist: Michael Roy
Researcher: Grange Farr - Source
- “Birdcap.” Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival, www.chromazone.net/birdcap. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
Roy, Michael. “Blog.” Birdcap, 7 Jan. 2023, www.birdcap.store/blog.
Morici, Abigail. “Birdcap Flies Solo at Crosstown Arts.” Memphis Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024, memphismagazine.com/culture/birdcap-flies-solo/.
Files
Collection
Citation
Michael Roy, whose artist name is Bircap, grew up in Southern Mississippi, who as a boy, spent his days swimming, playing with friends, and doing everything a normal child would. Growing up Michael studied painting at Memphis College of art. This was just the start of his career; Michael Roy became more of a muralist when he moved to Seoul, South Korea. The name Birdcap was born during his time in Korea. The meaning behind Birdcap is to pay homage to the south where he grew up and about the issues that his home city faces. Birdcap uses a cartoon-like style in his artwork. Birdcap uses colors that are similar to what you would see on a morning cartoon. By using a nostalgic look to his artwork, Birdcap covers a wide range of topics like grief, morality, and political upheaval., “Flowers for the Friends who Picked Me Up,” accessed January 14, 2025, https://mspmurals.omeka.net/items/show/52.