AN ARTIST continues to make a splash across the conurbation with his latest piece titled Gods of The Sea on a block of public toilets.

The traffic-stopping artwork features Poseidon and his wife Amphitrite and their son Triton along with a sunken shipwreck and array of marine life.

Krishna Malla, aka Tech Moon, began working on the piece two weeks ago and expects it will be finished in mid-October, weather permitting.

When complete, the four-sided mural on Southbourne Crossroads public toilets will depict a giant 3D fish tank full of jellyfish, coral, whales and dolphins.

Krishna said: “It’s been eight-hour days since I started so there’s been a lot of hours going into the finished piece.

“It’s meant to look like a fish tank so I’m turning into a cubic block of water with lots of marine life inside of it and hopefully it will be 3D - there’s a sunken shipwreck in the middle which you can see from a different angle at each side which will be the continuity of it.”

Artist Krishna grew up in Cornwall and moved to Bournemouth 16 years ago to study illustration at the Arts University where he later became a lecturer before going on to pursue his career as an artist full-time.

The public response to the mural has been ‘overwhelming’ Krishna explained, with residents originally hesitant when the whitewash was applied.

Bournemouth Echo:

Gods of The Sea mural by Tech Moon on Southbourne Crossroads Public Toilets. 

He said: “I’ve never had a response like this, I’ve worked in very busy cities and I’ve worked in Boscombe doing lots of high street painting but I have people come and talk to me every two minutes and it’s very nice.

“It’s mostly the elderly community who are interested, they were very worried when I started and I put the white paint up like there was a lot of raised eyebrows and ‘what are you doing?’ but as the artwork has progressed there has been an overwhelming positive reaction to it.

“The response has been very positive and consistent - it’s something people don’t have any experience with and they’re interested to know more which is really nice.”

Tech Moon artwork has been featured across the conurbation, most recently there was the huge owl mural on Ashley Road in Boscombe.

The mural has been commissioned and funded by Ricky Knowlton and Fiona McArthur from Ricky’s fish and chip shop in Belle Vue Road, Southbourne.

Fiona said: “We opened during lockdown and the community have been so supportive it’s been amazing.

“We just wanted to give something back to the community and make the area even more of a destination.

“Since work on the mural started people have been coming down and taking selfies, the response has been fantastic.

The restaurant was recently awarded funding as part of the Bounce Back Grants through BCP Council and have chosen to repay and celebrate the community of Southbourne with a portion of the money - the council also granted permission for the mural on the toilets.