A local student has created a ten-foot mural in honour of a teenager who inspired the world.

Selaah Stephenson is now looking for a place where she can share her impression of Malala Yousafzai with the public.

The then 15-year-old grabbed the world’s attention in 2012, after she survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban.

Its members shot her because she spoke publicly of her belief that girls in Pakistan should be educated.

“She stood up for what she believed in and I thought that this was admirable of her,” said Selaah, who is 15. “Ultimately, that was the overarching goal of my project. To make members of our community more aware of the tremendous efforts that people like Malala are making to better our world. I recognised my talent and I pursued it. For Malala, it was using her voice and for me it was using a gallon of paint and a couple of paint brushes.”

The mural is currently on display at Selaah’s school, Somersfield Academy.

Students there have to produce a personal project as part of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme.

“I wanted this topic in particular to receive more attention I thought that visual arts could be a way to communicate her story differently,” she said.

“I wanted to see if visual arts could evoke responsiveness within an audience. I chose a mural design because of its ability to reach a public audience. A mural tends to have an immediate effect on people and expresses how art can induce positive change. So I considered my personal interest and talent in an effort to drive my internal pursuit of change.”

Malala was awarded the Nobel Prize at 17. She’s the youngest person to receive the honour so far.

Selaah decided to make her the focus of her project because of their shared belief “that raising our voice can make a difference”.

“I researched prominent figures throughout history and their contributions to the world,” she said.

“I had a list of people including Bob Marley, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai and a few others. The one that connected to me most was Malala Yousafzai considering that she was shot by the Taliban at the age of 15 and she chose to unleash her inner strength in a society where the education of women is not really allowed, women are looked down upon, and seen as nothing more than bearers of children.”

She spent months researching Malala’s life and considered several concepts before she finalised the design.

She then wrote Malala’s story, using the words to form the teenager’s image. She painted the mural over four days in December.

“At first most of my drafts were illegible because most of the words had to be placed a certain way in order to make up an image of Malala, so that was my challenge,” she said.

“But then when I had what I thought was my final design, and had meetings with my peers and advisers, that was the one thing that consistently came up, the fact that most of the design was illegible and Malala’s story was not clear. It was important that I made some words clear — the most important parts of her story. I revisited spacing within my design and decided that in place of her hair, I would use the most important details that reveal what happened to her.

“I felt this to be the focal part because it is the only part that is legible. I did that on purpose. I made that part legible and everything around her illegible, but it still provides an image of her.”

Selaah turned to Chewstick’s Tiago Garcia for advice with her project.

He’s worked with artists here to create large-scale public murals.

“We toured around Hamilton and he showed me existing public art projects,” the teenager said.

“I didn’t even know that so many were already here. Our tour inspired me to make a contribution and to become a part of the public art movement.

“He taught me that these art projects can have an effect on someone whether it be big or small. Just knowing that you have made a difference or have impacted someone’s life in some way, is so refreshing.”

Selaah intends to eventually pursue a career in medicine.

Somersfield will hold an open house featuring the students’ personal projects, on February 18 between 10am and 11.30am.