He said painting must have always been within him.

“I started doing this last year, before that I was a performance poet and I did some comedy, that was OK… but people didn’t like it as much as they like this stuff (the art),” Wilde said.

“This time last year, I hadn’t even done any painting, I wasn’t even touching paint. To be at this stage in less than a year blows my mind.

“I had no idea paint and I were going to be such friends.”

Wilde said he “didn’t really know” how he became the chosen artist to paint the whisky bar’s walls.

“A guy I met through comedy said ‘a guy I know is opening this bar and we want your stuff in the bar’ and they let me do whatever I wanted,” he said. 

“I don’t usually wander into someone’s place and do that.” 

The murals of the Kingsway streetscape took just 32 hours for Wilde to complete. Wilde described the work as a “dribbly messy”, which he said is a lot like him.

However, it would be hard to spot Wilde’s work, as his pseudonym is Mang. 

“Mang is an easier name to remember than Fakington,” he explained. “It’s just a really ultra affectionate way to say you dig something.”

His passion began after taking art electives at university as a break from the demands of his Bachelor of Social Work. 

“It (painting) could have completely changed my direction all together, I don’t even know if I’ll finish social work,” he said. 

Originally from Brisbane, Wilde has found a way to bring his social work degree and painting together. 

“I’ve become the art facilitator for the City Mission in the last couple of months, so I’m getting to do art with kids of different backgrounds.”

“I’m getting this sort of back-door art-social-work-thing happening, so I can do art and make it constructive for people who need some stuff in their life.”

Wilde felt a sense of needing to repay Launceston after visiting the state seven years ago and falling in love with the city.

 “I feel I owe Launceston because it’s just been so good to me. Uni surprised me, painting surprised me. Tassie certainly surprised me.”

Wilde said winning an Archibald wasn’t on the cards before now. 

“Ever since I’ve been painting, people have been saying ‘you should do an Archibald’. But I feel like an impostor. I haven’t been doing it long enough. Give me some more time… maybe a year or so.” 

Wilde is holding a Mang of Launceston exhibition in June at Saw Tooth of Launceston identities.