Head in the Sand
Ian Mutch · Wyadup Rocks, Western Australia
Photo: Christian Fletcher, as published on Street Art Utopia.
Head in the Sand is a giant beach drawing that Ian Mutch raked into the sand near Wyadup Rocks in Western Australia in 2020, a few days before the COVID-19 lockdown, as a response to the panic buying of the time. Photographer Christian Fletcher captured it from above with a drone. Source Source Source Source Checked
Gone 2020 — Mutch’s own site says his beach drawings disappear within a day or two and live on through footage and photography; he told the Augusta-Margaret River Times they are “there one day and gone the next”. No date for the drawing is given beyond “a few days before” the lockdown. Source Source Checked
💡 5 things to know
- A reply to panic buyingMutch says the drawing was a response to the confusion of the early pandemic, including panic buying. He told the Augusta-Margaret River Times it was “a little comment on the entire human race”. Source Source Source Checked
- Just a rake and a droneNo paint or materials: Mutch draws the lines with a rake, and Fletcher photographs the giant figure from above with a drone. Source Source Checked
- Made to vanishMutch’s beach drawings disappear within a day or two; the Times wrote of tides washing at them. After that they live on through footage and photography. Source Source Checked
- Not the first oneMutch told the Times his very first beach drawing was Beach Blanket at Bunker Bay, a character sleeping under the ocean, about climate change. Source Source Source Checked
- A hit onlineThe Times reported that Head in the Sand “rocketed to internet stardom” and had almost 5000 engagements when the paper shared it on Facebook. Source Reported
📍 Where it is
On the beach near Wyadup Rocks, on the coast of south-western Western Australia. The sources give no exact spot, and the drawing itself was washed away within days. Source Source Source Checked
🗓️ Sightings
- 2020
Raked before the lockdown; gone within a day or two
- 20207 May
Fletcher Gallery lists the print (date in page data, not shown on page)
- 202015 May
Augusta-Margaret River Times reports on it
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
“Head in the Sand was created just a few days before the COVID-19 lockdown in WA”
“The beach drawings disappear within a day or two. It’s a fleeting moment.”
“This time we went to Wyadup to find a view that would show the beauty of our local beaches.”
“This artwork was created at Wyadup just a few days before the lockdown in WA.”
✅ The facts
- Year
- 2020, a few days before the COVID-19 lockdown (in WA, say the Times and the tourism page; in Australia, says Mutch’s site) Source Source Source Checked
- Exact date
- Not given in the sources we found Source Source Unconfirmed
🔗 Related
- Artists Make Portraits and Figures From Bamboo, Driftwood, Pebbles, Rice and Sand (10 Photos) — Street Art Utopia
- Ian Mutch: Beach Drawings
- All Artwork Files
All sources & image credits
- ianmutch.com: Beach Drawings (artist’s website)
- amrtimes.com.au: Art lingers after it vanishes (Jackson Lavell-Lee, Augusta-Margaret River Times, 15 May 2020)
- christianfletcher.com.au: Head in the Sand, Wyadup, South Western Australia (Christian Fletcher Gallery print listing)
- margaretriver.com: Open Studios Ian Mutch (Margaret River Busselton Tourism)
- Image: Christian Fletcher, as published on Street Art Utopia; a 16:9 share version with a blurred background was made from it.
Last checked: 31 October 2026. How we verify art