Fisherman
Justin Bateman · Chiang Mai, Thailand · 2021
Found-stone portrait by Justin Bateman. Photo: Justin Bateman (@pebblepicassos), as published on Street Art Utopia (This Started as a Rock (10 Photos), 31 October 2026).
Fisherman is a portrait of an old, bearded man that Justin Bateman laid out from found stones in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2021. He works without painting or cutting the stones, so their natural tones carry every highlight and shadow. Source Checked
Seen 2021 — Home & Decor captions a photo of Bateman with Fisherman “in Chiang Mai, 2021”. Bateman’s mosaics are scattered back where the stones came from or left to the weather once they are photographed, so the portrait was not made to last; we found no dated report of when it was taken apart. Source Reported
💡 4 things to know
- Made in Chiang Mai in 2021Home & Decor names the work, the city and the year in one caption: “Fisherman, in Chiang Mai, 2021.” Source Reported
- Stones as they areBateman picks stones for their natural colour, shape and size, without painting or cutting them. Source Reported
- Made to disappearHis mosaics are destroyed by being scattered back where they were made or worn away by the weather; he says, “My work is impermanent, I leave only footprints.” Source Source Reported
- Shown in two viewsMy Modern Met’s 2021 feature on Bateman includes two photographs captioned “Fisherman”, and The Epoch Times reproduces it with credit to the artist. Source Source Checked
📍 Where it is
Chiang Mai, Thailand, where Bateman is based. The sources do not give the exact spot, so there is no map pin; the stones are not expected to still be there. Source Source Reported
🗓️ Sightings
- 20213 Nov
My Modern Met shows two views
- 202216 Jan
Epoch Times reproduces it
- 20228 Feb
Home & Decor: Chiang Mai, 2021
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
“Justin with one of his recent works, Fisherman, in Chiang Mai, 2021.”
✅ The facts
🔗 Related
- This Started as a Rock (10 Photos) — Street Art Utopia
- Justin Bateman — artist’s website
- All Artwork Files
All sources & image credits
- homeanddecor.com.sg: Pebble painter Justin Bateman: Impermanence maintains natural environment (Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle, 8 February 2022)
- mymodernmet.com: Land Artist Leaves Incredible Mosaics Made Entirely of Pebbles All Around Thailand (Emma Taggart, 3 November 2021)
- theepochtimes.com: Land Artist ‘Paints With Pebbles’ to Make Masterpiece Portraits and Lifelike Faces in Jungles of Thailand (16 January 2022)
- Image: Justin Bateman (@pebblepicassos), as published on Street Art Utopia (This Started as a Rock (10 Photos), 31 October 2026); a 16:9 share version was made from it.
Last checked: 1 November 2026. How we verify art