Artist Spreads Positivity Across the Globe with His Eco-Friendly Street Art

Artist Spreads Positivity Across the Globe With His Eco-Friendly Street Art

By Jessica Stewart on December 25, 2020

Paris, France

French street artist Saype is known for his spectacular artwork which sprawls onto grass instead of vertically onto walls. Using eco-friendly, biodegradable paint, he travels the world to spread a message of positivity. In doing so, he hopes that people will be inspired to make changes in their own lives and communities.

Saype is currently working on three different projects—Beyond Walls, Human Story, and Trash. In Beyond Walls, he looks to make the world's largest human chain by painting clasped hands around the globe as a way to find common ground across cultures. The project kicked off in 2019 in Paris, where he painted a human chain at the foot of the Eiffel Tower that stretched over 2,000 feet. After this dramatic opening, he's continued the work with his most recent piece unfolding in Istanbul.

Human Story reflects on our experiences as people. Depicting daily activities, Saype hopes to make us ponder our place as humans on Earth. Lastly, his series called Trash is a look at waste and consumption culture. All of the incredible images from the three series are best viewed from above, with drone technology helping to capture the best photographs.

Taking great technical skill and logistical coordination, Saype's artwork is a reflection of his own experiences. “I like to tell myself that, like everything on earth, I will leave a mark of my passage,” he tells My Modern Met. “The question is, what trace will I leave? I worked as a nurse for years, and I was in regular contact with death, suffering… you ask those kinds of questions. Then, I like to tell myself that I can make an impact without impacting nature. Ultimately, it is a message of living together and of compassion that I want to convey.”