Byron Christensen was 13 years old when he met a group of graffiti artists at his local skate park and began doing street art.
It would become a powerful coping tool for navigating tough times.
With his dad in jail, and his mum unable to care for him due to mental health issues, graffiti served as an outlet for Byron during his turbulent teens, spent living rough and getting in trouble with police.
“It was the biggest escape from what was going on in my life,” he said.
“I drew until the sun came up, and as soon as I could get my hands on spray paint, it took off from there.”
But when police caught Byron doing illegal graffiti and dealing illicit drugs at the age of 18, he faced a crossroads.
“I was really scared because I thought I was going away to jail,” he said.
Some time later, Byron woke up, looked in the mirror, and realised he didn’t like what he saw.
“I thought, ‘I can either keep going down that path, or make a change and stop [other] kids from going down that path too’,” he said.
Now aged 21, the Port Macquarie artist is using his passion for graffiti as a way to reach the kids who need it most.
“My main goal is to work with kids who had an upbringing like I did … and set them on a good path,” Byron said.
A mix-up becomes an opportunity
Byron has worked hard to turn his life around, working closely with mentors met through the street art scene.
Artist Damon Moroney took Byron under his wing, showed him how to upscale his work for large murals, and encouraged him to work with kids.
“[We can] help them get off the street and give them something to do and show them the opportunities we have as street artists,” Damon said.
In recent years, Damon led an open day for young artists, who were invited to paint the back wall of Port Macquarie skate rink, Planet Skate, with permission.
Byron attended the open day, and some months later, got a call from some graffiti artists about painting the same wall.
“Little did we know we painted the wrong building — instead of painting the Planet Skate side, we painted the other half [of the adjoining wall],” Byron said.
Planet Skate owner Amaya Benson tracked Byron down through his social media to tell him the wrong wall was painted.
He apologised for the misunderstanding, which led to Amaya suggesting he run a regular graffiti class on one of Planet Skate’s inside walls.
“A dedicated wall means that … it’s a large area where you can feel comfortable to go nuts, learn those skills and not get in trouble,” Amaya said.
Byron “jumped at the opportunity” and started classes for youth, adults and people with disabilities, which have now been running for two months.
Working with vulnerable youth
He also recently ran a workshop doing street art on a demolition derby car, for students from Yulinbal College in Taree, a school supporting vulnerable youths to complete their education.
Yulinbal student Jackson Wallis said the class resonated with him.
“I felt inspired because [Byron] decided to make good with doing graffiti, instead of doing it illegally and getting in trouble, going to jail,” Jackson said.
Fellow student, Jamie Court said street art was a way to express yourself.
“Art … it’s your handwriting, your work, it’s your mindset,” Jamie said.
Byron said the level of engagement in the workshop was “crazy”.
“I couldn’t get them to put a can down — the one car, we ended up doing about four different layers over it, just because they were loving it,” he said.
‘It cops … a bad rap’
Damon said what Byron was helping young people, and his local community.
“Hopefully the kids will follow in his footsteps,” he said.
Byron plans to keep doing street art workshops and other projects involving kids and people with disabilities.
“If I was even to make a difference in one kid’s life, I’d be happy,” he said.
He hopes to keep the art form alive by giving kids a legal space to practice.
“It cops enough of a bad rap and I think that if we don’t have a designated space where we can actually show what we can do, the big nice colours, the pretty stuff, it’s just going to die out,” Byron said.