Netflix’s Boy Swallows Universe has captivated audiences worldwide, and one artist has dedicated a whole wall in Sydney’s Marrickville to the stellar tale.
The streaming giant began the new year on a good note after it released its newest limited series Boy Swallows Universe, which is an adaptation of Trent Dalton‘s novel of the same name.
For folks who haven’t given the series a go — which I highly recommend you should — the story follows Eli Bell (portrayed by Felix Cameron) as he navigates his trauma packed childhood while encountering bullying, shady individuals and crime.
Although the book is fiction, it has some truth as it’s inspired by Dalton’s life. One of truths being the character of Slim Halliday — Eli’s babysitter, mentor and convicted murderer — who is inspired by the real-life Arthur ‘Slim’ Halliday AKA the “Houdini of Boggo Road”.
As the show continues to wow viewers across the globe, one plain wall in Marrickville was transformed into a mural of Cameron’s Eli Bell by street artist Stuart Sale.
The piece, which has since garnered a lot of attention on Sale’s Instagram account @stuartsale, features a glowing Eli on a black canvas. Speaking to PEDESTRIAN.TV, Sale revealed that Boy Swallows Universe sparked a light of inspiration within him and that the uncomissioned mural was the first “personal piece” he has done in months.
“I haven’t worked on anything of my personal work for a while,” Sale began.
“And that show was quite inspiring. Eli’s character, especially, just got me excited to go and paint. Probably the first piece I’ve done with my own work for about five, six months.
“I think watching that show, Eli especially, his performance and his character was quite uplifting and sort of got me pumped to paint a portrait.”
Reflecting on the subject matter of the mural — which took a total of four hours to complete — Sale elaborated on his connection to the character of Eli and how he saw a lot of parallels in his own life and the show.
“I didn’t really think about it at the time of painting… I grew up with my brother, the two of us, which kinda reminded me a little bit about the two young guys in the show,” Sale said, explaining why he chose to paint Eli.
“We had lots of challenges and stuff like that. So I think I identified with his character more than anything else.”
Sale continued to praise Cameron’s performance as Eli and said he was blown away by his presence in the series. He added that the scene he specifically chose to recreate in his piece was “symbolic” of how he consumed and understood Boy Swallows Universe.
“I sort of knew in my head I was going to go out and paint something and then when I watched the show I was like ‘Yes, let’s paint Eli that’s gotta be done,’” the Marrickville-based artist said, reflecting on the mural’s subject matter.
“I had a look around, and the image with the phone and the light on his face on a dark background was symbolic of the whole show in a way. Like the bit of light coming out of the darkness almost summed up a lot of the show for me.
“It was a dark subject matter and dark themes going on but it was still very uplifting and [it had] light. It was really lovely thing to paint.”
As the Sale’s mural continues to make its rounds on social media, he revealed that a number of folks connected to show had reached out to him regarding his street art. Even Cameron’s mother got in touch with the artist, who is reportedly planning to have the piece printed.
“So I did it over the weekend and then by Monday, Trent the writer, came across it and he contacted me,” Sale said.
“He shared it on his socials so my socials went a bit crazy for a few days with lots of people from the show and lots of new followers.
“I’ve been in touch with Felix’s parents and lots of people have reached out and sort of thanked me for it.”
I believe the subject matter in the mural truly potrays the experience that is Boy Swallows Universe. It captures Eli’s childhood innocence amongst all the scary situations he’s confronted with throughout the story. The portrait — especially the colours — conveys a sense of comfort in what is the darkness of the world.
Alongside this amazing mural, Sale was also responsible for those kick ass street arts of the Tillies during the FIFA Women’s World Cup, featuring Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler.
If you want to see Sale’s outstanding works of art, you can follow him on Instagram or his Etsy store.
This isn’t the first time Boy Swallows Universe has impacted audiences beyond the screen. Most recently a petition to reopen Queensland’s Bogga Road Jail Tours — which was used in a very important scene in the limited series — was created online.
As of writing, the Change.org petition has more than 2,000 signatures and has a target of 2,500. Fingers crossed the state government allows history fans and fans of the show to explore what is a massive piece of Brisbane history, as well as a huge piece of the Boy Swallows Universe story.
Image source: Instagram / @stuartsale and Netflix / Boy Swallows Universe
