“This mural isn’t just a mural, it tells a story of the faith we have in Christ to protect and rescue us when we’re ‘drowning'”

Like sports, art has long been a unifier. The artworks at CAIS’s campus at Butterfly Valley have not only given colours to the school’s interior spaces, the messages behind these creative works have also breathed vibrancy to the school campus.

Of the artworks created by our students, there’s a mural sitting at the back of the atrium on level six of the main campus building that depicts “the journey of a student through the sea of life”.

This mural is the brainchild of five aspiring Grade 8 students (2020) Audrey Yau, Olivia Nadar, Tegan Yiu, Renee Yeung and Natalie Lai, with the support of their teacher Ms Fei Wong.

We caught up with this cohort of creative minds to learn more about this mural.

What’s the story behind the mural?

The story behind the mural is that God is always protecting us like the boy in the bubble. The light rays at the top show God’s holiness, the bubble acts as a safe haven, the shipwreck tells us that the old life has gone and the new is come and the sea life represents God’s creation.

How did this idea come about?

When we were in Grade 6, Audrey Yau’s teacher had seen one of her drawings and said that she could have an opportunity to paint a mural on one of the walls. Audrey thought of bubbles suddenly and got the idea of God’s hands protecting someone in the bubble under the sea. It was a spontaneous idea at the time which turned out to be three-year project.

Biggest challenges you faced when completing this project? How did you overcome these challenges?

At some points, we felt so discouraged and felt that we couldn’t continue (lots of meltdowns) and didn’t have enough skills to do it. We had to pull through our difficulties and keep at our good work, in addition with trusting in God to help us along the way. We overcame these challenges by the teachers telling us that we can do it and telling us to not give up.

What was the most challenging part?

The most challenging part was making painting mistakes and making sure we didn’t make any mistakes since if we make a mistake, we would have to paint over it and if we keep making mistakes, the paint on the wall would become too thick!

How does art impact your personal growth?

Art helps us express our feelings, makes us calm, and gives us a space to tell others what we can’t express in words.

Artists’ statement

This mural has been created to inspire our fellow students throughout their journey of faith at CAIS.

The mural was painted to depict the idea that God’s hands are always protecting us just like He is doing to the boy in the bubble. The bubble is a representation of a safe haven and to convey the fact that God will protect us in any circumstance. Light rays that are painted at the top of the mural is there to portray God’s holiness shines anywhere and everywhere. The shipwreck drawn on the side is a reflection of 2 Corinthians 5:17, “The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” The various sea life and animals that is painted throughout the mural is to remind us of a specific verse in the book of Psalms. In Psalm 66:5 it says, “Take a good look at God’s wonders – they will take your breath away.”

This mural isn’t just a mural, it tells a story of the faith we have in Christ to protect and rescue us when we’re “drowning”. A question for you to think about as you observe this mural is: Where do you find yourself in this vast sea of life with all its struggles and challenges?