Anticipation buzzes in the air as Stavanger braces for TelmoMiel’s upcoming, completed piece, a highlight of the Nice Surprise Festival that honestly has already produced several surprises across the city this summer in this seaside city in Norway.

Though just a day away, the unveiling of this tall mural promises to be worth every moment of the wait. This week, the senior residents of this verdant complex have been stopping by, their curiosity piqued, craning their necks skyward to decipher the enigmatic and surreal tableau taking shape before their eyes.

As Miel readies to return to Amsterdam by Friday, he reveals that the true depth of this evolving piece might continue to elude the casual observer. The elongated and intricately reproduced forms, playing with shadows and reliefs, deviate from conventional norms, yet they merely hint at a narrative woven into this captivating work-in-progress.

“I’m just shaping, re-shaping reality, actually,” the artist says as he lowers the cherry picker to the ground for a few minutes to talk about the piece that continues the duo’s practice over the last decade of crafting visually arresting, imaginatively surreal narratives that you may not deconstruct, but you’ll engage with. “Yeah, I’m just digitally trying to find new ways to make the composition,” says Miel, “and make it interesting.”

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