AN international artist recently expressed her disappointment after her mural painted in Kuala Lumpur was removed for reasons unknown.
Julia Volchkova took to her Instagram to share her heartbreak upon finding out of the removal.
The mural was reportedly painted in 2016 on the side wall of a double storey shophouse in Jalan Panggung, titled Goldsmith, depicting a bespectacled older man holding a nail and a hammer.
The mural was listed on travel and lifestyle portals such as Lonely Planet and TimeOut.
Volchkova elaborated further in her post on how much effort she took to create the artwork in “unbearable conditions”, to the point where her health was affected after the creation process.
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“Of course, it’s painful because my art is my children. It’s a part of me.
“I spent my time, my knowledge, my health on it,” she said in her post.
She also claimed that said mural was an international “indicator” of Malaysia’s “cultural level” as well as an “important landmark” in Kuala Lumpur.
While netizens expressed their sympathies for her situation, some speculated that Volchkova had not obtained permission to paint her mural to which she claimed in her response that she had done so prior to her project.
The 36-year-old artist has other works in Penang and Johor dating back to 2014 to 2016 throughout the span of her career.
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According to Buletin Mutiara she was invited to Malaysia work on her art with her first works in the country being the “Indonesian Boy” and subsequently the “Indian Boatman” murals in 2014 located in Penang.
In 2015, she completed a total of three murals which are the Indian Water Bearer, the Old Fisherman and the Old Indian Woman.
The Silat mural was Volchkova’s last project in Penang completed in January 2016 and then in Johor, she worked on the Loving Sisters mural which was completed in July.
