Mural Installation Marouflage Process

A photograph of a vibrant mural in East Los Angeles — East Los Luv, 2024, acrylic, 32. ft 3in. x 44 ft. 7 in.

Installation of East Los Luv, January 2024, Installation by Cultivarte Studios, photo by Jimmy Saldivar

Installation oInstallation of East Los Luv, January 2024, Installation by Cultivarte Studios, photo by Jimmy Saldivar f East Los Luv, January 2024, Installation by Cultivarte Studios

Installation of Installation of East Los Luv, January 2024, Installation by Cultivarte Studios, photo by Jimmy Saldivar East Los Luv, January 2024, Installation by Cultivarte Studios

East Los Luv Mural Installation - The Marouflage Process

The installation of the East Los Luv mural in East Los Angeles

The mural was installed by Cultivarte Studios using mural glue provided by Mural Colors.

The mural was hand-painted on a primed lightweight fabric named polytab and mimics the language of relief printmaking using different painting techniques and textures to create a hand-printed effect.

This process the artist used for the mural is known as marouflage. Marouflage is a 3,000-year-old technique. The artist paints a mural on fabric and once the painting is complete, it is adhered to the wall of a building using a special adhesive.

inside the artist's studio with colorful mural panels pinned to the wall

The marouflage process made it possible for the artist to paint the mural in her 200 square foot home studio. The panels were measured and prepared to work around the windows and architectural elements of the building.

The process was initially chosen to mimic the artist’s collage artwork. The original idea was to paint the elements individually and collage them together on the wall. Due to the timeline, the artist opted for painting the imagery in large panels that fit her studio walls and were a manageable size for the installer.

Due to the limited amount of space, each panel was cut to fit the artist's studio. Each panel measures approximately 7.5 ft high x 5 ft wide. There are 34 panels.