BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
When graffiti and street art lace up hiking boots and head into rural or fully natural settings, some feel conflicted about the potential harm to plants, soil, and water. Naturalists argue that human hands should leave no trace—certainly not one out of harmony with the site. In the built environment, on the other hand—cities, towns, suburbs, strip malls, fast-food restaurants, roller rinks, bowling alleys, factories, condos, lawyers’ offices, hospitals, laundromats—the conversation around street artists and graffiti writers tends to focus on property and real-estate value, less on our impact on the Earth.
Sea162 (Alonso Murillo) is a Spanish graffiti/mural artist from the Madrid region, long associated with Collado Villalba north of the city. He began writing graffiti in the 1990s, later moving from classic graffiti into large-scale murals; his current approach merges graffiti know-how with site-responsive painting in natural or semi-natural settings.
He is known for a kind of “nature street art”: fauna and flora rendered on quarry faces, walls, and outdoor structures, frequently using earth-based pigments he gathered and developed from sites across Spain (including the Canary Islands). His compositions often integrate the rock’s relief to create volume, capitalizing on the site’s natural features.
Sea162’s approach has led him down paths street-art fans don’t typically associate with the culture, yet his evolution feels organic—especially as he has developed a practice with natural pigments. He has competed in Spain’s Liga Nacional de Graffiti in multiple editions (2021–2024). This year the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC, Madrid) presented his 90×7 m mural “Evolución,” made with natural pigments and accompanied by a museum display about its materials and process.
He has participated in Spanish and European street-art initiatives, including painting a wolf at an outdoor rock-art event in France and multiple municipal or regional projects in Spain. His 2023 mural “El Tritón Miguelón” on the circular La Palla irrigation pond in Garcibuey (Salamanca) was selected “Best Mural of the World – April 2023” by Street Art Cities.
We asked Sea162 about his practice and this new installation:
Brooklyn Street Art: Can you tell us about the setting, the placement of the art? Is it a natural swimming “pool” somewhere in a forest?
SEA162: It’s an old stone quarry in the village where I live northwest of Madrid. It is inside the mountains.
BSA: The objects depicted on the mural appear to be seashells. What can you tell us about the different species of shells you painted on the rocks?
SEA162: It does look like seashells, but these are organic forms that connect with the forms of the rock in a free manner of expression.
BSA: You mentioned you used natural pigments collected from different places in Spain. What can you tell us about your process of collecting and making the pigments? Do you use plants, flowers, soil, and rocks?
SEA162: I usually use rocks and pigments made from minerals.
BSA: Can you describe your process of planning and selection when you paint in a natural environment?
SEA162: At the beginning, I try to find a way to connect with the place and the environment. After I select the location, I begin to work on the idea and its design
BSA: By using natural pigments, is it your intention for the artwork to be washed by rain and other natural elements?
SEA162: I find it essential to take care, to protect the environment and the work for the future, by natural, yet resistant materials.
