VEGAN FLAVA

Northern emergency lights

2021-12-18

During the quarantine summer of 2020 I've been discovering the roadside flowers, while riding my bike between my home and studio. Connecting the flowers to drawn and handcut shapes I developed something I call Bio-stencilism.

The main artworks produced in the video have the title Northern Emergency Lights from the natural phenomenon Aurora Borealis known as Northern Lights that can be seen in the far northern parts of Sweden. It is an unique natural phenomenon of green, red and purple lights dancing in the sky. Climate change is happening twice as fast here. Yearly many travel to see the Aurora Borealis and through my artwork I want to highlight the emergency of acting against the warming climate that rapidly changes the unique nature in these areas.

Signs on the surface

2020-04-12

When the winters first snowfall, billions of unique crystals falling in slowmotion, covers the landscape it looks like a gigantic sheet of paper. It is beyond belief to be able to walk across the same lake during the winter as we swim in during summer. If these phenomena weren’t real, I would dream of such and wish they existed.

Footprints in the snow

2018-12-21

How we produce food, consume, and the burning of fossil fuels leaves the footprints of collapsed ecosystems, melting the worlds glaciers, dead ocean floors, logged and burned forests, dirty air and waters. Climate change is threatening with irreversible harm to our planet if we continue this way. Lets change our cultures to focus on ensuring the well-being, prosperity and security for everyone!!!  

Footprints in the snow, was made with biodegradable black chalk and footprints on the snow covered lake Översjön in Stockholm in March 2018. It's a part of my project Signs on the surface.

The taste of fresh water

2018-11-30

This is Översjön, a lake that flows into Swedens third largest lake Mälaren. Due to over fertilization the quality of the fresh water is declining. About 2,5 million Swedes, (one fourth of the population) get their drinking water from Mälaren and it's growing every day as more people move into the region. The number one threat comes from phosphorous and nitrogen. About 64% of that flows in from agriculture producing animal feed and faeces from grazing animals. It is urgent that we change the ways of our culture, for food production so that we can sustain a healthy nature. To adapt to the destruction from our culture by building more stuff to take care of the negative effects is an expensive strategy. To ruin nature for short time wealth kills the soul.

The poem is made with a shovel and some chalk on a frozen lake Översjön - March 2018. It's a part of my project Signs on the surface.

A million years lost in a moment

2018-08-31

In our culture, we've been taught the norms of what to eat and consume. It means we can also learn how to contruct our lives differently. To shift to thought and practice where nature and animals are in the center.

Ecoside is the crime of all time. It is destabilizing the world as people will have to flee from environmental disasters or conflicts concerning natural resources. The dominant culture is leathal to every aspect of this planet.

Giving rights to nature and animals similar to human rights would enable to juridically protect ecosystems from collapse, freshwater from pollution, forests from destruction and animals from extinction.

While they seek for solutions

2017-12-30

A drawing, an idea on a piece of paper can swiftly grow into something larger, thoughts and actions leading to the next. But creating something is never as fast as to tear it to pieces. The speed of ruin is just something else.

Our cultures are taking what lives and grows for real, which has a true value, and turn those trees, animals, nature into something that falsely grow, a theory of growth. It is strange to me that instead of adapting to the ways of nature, humans seek to adapt to the results of destruction. My video, While They Seek for Solutions, is about that.

Throwing leaves against machines

2017-07-02

Throwing Leaves Against Machines is the third video chapter by Northern Street Sketches, which was performed live at Subtopia in Botkyrka Stockholm.

By coinsidence we did this performance on the same day as Donald Trump announced that the USA is withdrawing from the Paris agreements. This was a large setback for everything living on this planet and it pissed us off as we went to start our performance.

Northern Street Sketches is a collaboration between Mario Perez Amigo and Vegan Flava.

Trapped peace

2017-03-17

To make a symbol for a bird by putting your hands together and crossing the thumbs. This painting has the titel, Trapped peace.

We have the knowledge of doing the right things, we have enough information, we know what has to be done and how, but still we don't.

In what way is it eazier to continue shopping, consuming, driving, flying, and eating as our culture has taught us when we know it leads us to catastrophe? and why isn't that way of living the pesimistic?

A walk on weak ice

2016-08-22

Some visual thoughts painted on Lake Mälaren during a cold Swedish winter day, 2016.

The Baltic Sea has the largest ocean floor death in the world. Due to several human activities but the largest is agriculture around this lake Mälaren the quality of the freshwater is threathened. And fishingships empties all waters of its inhabitants.

Abandoned stories and blank spaces

2015-11-19

During a year I did five trips to an abandoned paper mill, Holmens Pappersbruk in Vargön, Sweden 2015. I used the walls as book pages to create some visual thoughts, as an very large artists' book. 

The factory is located at a beautiful spot beside the river Göta Älv. It felt like I was visiting Swedish worker history, Spending time here raised thoughts of the complexity of extracting natural resources and maintaining a healthy nature. Now the nature is taking it back. Just like a healing wound the body incapsulates screws and metal and nature does the same. 

The inherent pain in every weapon

2015-10-05

A site specific mural I did in the ruins of an old artillery and small arms factory in Lisbon, Portugal in March 2015.

A collapsing building

2014-12-31

As we are heating upp this planet, our ideal homes are falling apart, it's either changing or ending life around the globe. Everyone is affected by the flames. The climate catastrophes are forcing people to evacuate, flee or move.

Painted on a burned building at Snösätra Graffiti Wall Of Fame in Rågsved, Stockholm Sweden 2014.

Northern Street Sketches - Chapter 2

2014-12-02

Northern Street Sketches is a collaboration project between Mario P Amigo och Vegan Flava, based in Sweden. This is their Chapter 2.

We thought that the buildings we had built, behind us, infront of us and inside of us, were sustaianble, adamant truths and would be for ever.

Among ruins we dance, on abandonned walls we paint, to scream out a wake up call to our fellow cultural sleepwalkers. A vision of the future where the material for production is raw waste.

Northern Street Sketches - Chapter 1

2014-08-25

Northern Street Sketches is a collaboration project between Mario P Amigo och Vegan Flava, based in

Sweden. This is their Chapter 1.

Maby the sailors of yesterday were right about the horizon.

The poem I paint is in Swedish and the translation is approximately:

A horizon that lights, or an precipice for the end of the world.