Celebrated Peterborough street artist’s striking new mural conveys a message of hope

Peterborough city centre is to receive another welcome splash of colour this week thanks to street artist Nathan ‘Nyces’ Murdoch.

The spray can maestro is currently putting the finishing touches to his latest mural, which measures around 30 by 60 feet and takes up about a third of the outdoor wall space on Westgate’s Megabite takeaway.

A dramatic composition, Nathan’s large, vivid image is of a youngster looking despondent within a barren landscape.

“It’s a young child sitting outside a bit of a ruin,” he explained.

“The sky transitions into blue and then there is an oversized snowdrop: a flower that represents hope.”

“The overall message is about positivity - that there is always hope.”

This striking image is the second large-scale mural Nathan has created in conjunction with Korporate Industries and Battle Lines, the first being the now iconic ‘Hello my beautiful people’ artwork on Bright Street.

The trio of creatives received Arts Council funding last year to design and create street art in Peterborough.

This mural should have been completed last September.

However, unexpected delays ended up setting the project back to now, a less-than-ideal mid-winter deadline.

Unsurprisingly, the inclement winter weather doesn’t lend itself so well to street art, something Nathan found to his cost during last night’s torrential downpour.

“It started drizzling and I thought: ‘ah, I’ll be alright’,” he recalled.

“And then it got heavier... and heavier.”

“By the time I left I was drowned!”

Thankfully, the (relatively) settled weather of today has encouraged him to make great progress.

“If the weather’s like this tomorrow then I’ll wrap it up tomorrow.”

Nathan’s latest piece – which he describes as “a nice arty wall in the city centre” – is yet more evidence of how dedicated the talented artist is to make people see Peterborough in a more positive light:

“I really hate people who just bash the city,” he said: “anything that creates a bit of positivity, I’m all for.

“I’m taking what I can do and trying to create more public art – and positive art – in Peterborough.”