To release the tensions at the end of the day and have a daily moment to dedicate only to myself: that was my goal when I joined the gym. That’s exactly what happened, but in a slightly different way than one would expect. Sure, I continued to use weights and machines to train, but at some point I picked up paints and brushes and everything changed.
“Hey you, do you have a minute?” It was Illir, the owner of my gym, but what does he want? Had I left a weight out of place? I immediately thought of the worst. But instead…
“Are you an artist? I’ve seen your work on Instagram and I really like it. We have a blank wall to fill – he told me as he pointed to a 3 x 40 meter space behind him – Would you be interested in painting it?”
Fortunately I didn’t have any weights in my hands, because I would have dropped them on the floor. Or on my feet!
I still don’t really know what pushed him to trust me. However, I am convinced that he immediately sensed the adrenalin flowing under my skin as he briefly told me his idea. He decided to leave me carte blanche, or rather, the blank wall. And I went home with an energy I had never felt before, not even lifting weights.
I still had no idea of the effort this job would require, but at the time nothing seemed impossible. I spent every weekend and free day on this work, while I continued to work regularly as a full-time architect. What I did not imagine, however, was that this mural would soon become a family project, one that would never see the light of day without the help of Claudia, my wife, my biggest supporter, and without the smile of my daughter Thia to cheer me up when I came home exhausted.
“Cool, let’s do it!” exclaimed Illir when I showed him the first sketches. Murals it is, I thought, let’s really do it!
The preparation lasted a few weeks, as I tried to picture in my mind how that idea, so small on the screen of my Ipad pro, could become as big as that wall, but more importantly, real – tangible. I had no idea how I was going to get the drawing onto that wall, which the more I looked at it, the bigger it seemed, but the more I thought about it, the more the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together. And everything, fortunately, went according to my plan. How? First, I drew the background armed with very basic tools: wire, pencil, ruler and lots of tape. Once the huge silhouettes were completed, all I had to do was colour them green.
The background would also serve as a track to project the figures…yes, long live technology in this case!
The six black and white figures I have depicted, represent athletes who excel in their discipline: Power Lifting – Eddie Coan, Swingen – Leuppi Semir, Boxing – Patrick Wolf, Eishockey – Jonas Siegenthaler, Judo – Loriana Kuka and Weightlifting – Melanie Heilgeist. The cartoon-like colour highlights their actions, giving dynamism to the composition.
I dedicated a weekend to each figure, getting up early each morning before the gym slowly became crowded. From the very first pencil sketch on 8th October 2022, the mural saw its completion on 4th December 2022.
I was at the end of my strength, because I had no idea that such a job would involve so much physical effort – after all, I was in a gym! – but the satisfaction of seeing the end result definitely repaid all the sacrifices. Being able to show it to my parents and fellow architects in the making, as well as receiving appreciation from people, gave me the boost I needed.
I believe that such a mural consolidated the identity and character of the gym, which was already very strong thanks to its owner and staff, even more. It certainly helped me to get to know myself more as an artist, to “test myself” and measure myself against a work of this size. I am ready to do it again!
