Nu(tree)tion mural by Sath, Penang, Malaysia
Nu(tree)
tion
Sath · “Nu(tree)tion”, 2015 · A wall under a tree in Penang, Malaysia
Photo: Sath, as published on Street Art Utopia in 2015; the same photo is on the artist’s website
A painted grey hand in a yellow sleeve lifts a pair of chopsticks towards the real tree hanging over the wall, as if the leaves were lunch. Sath, a street artist from Mallorca, painted “Nu(tree)tion” in Penang in 2015 as one of a series of pun-titled works on the island.
4 things to know
- Nutrition, with a tree in itThe title hides the word “tree” inside “nutrition”, and the real tree above the wall is the food. On his website Sath lists it with other Penang pieces such as “I be-leaf in you”, “Des(tea)ny” and “S-pots”, tagged “Juego de palabras” (play on words). sath.es
- The pun often comes firstWriting about his own work in July 2015, Sath said that sometimes “the artwork title (usually a pun) leads me to represent the idea and search for the right place to express it.” Other works start from “an object, a texture or a hole in a wall”. Bored Panda
- Photographed on 31 March 2015The artist’s photo of the wall, the same frame on his website and on Street Art Utopia, has a camera date of 31 March 2015. Design You Trust showed the work on 1 July 2015 with the caption “Nu(tree)tion – Penang (Malaysia, 2015)”. Photo file · Design You Trust
- A painter from Mallorca who roamed AsiaSath’s site says he was born on Mallorca in 1983. In 2015 he described himself as “Bangkok-based”, and a 2016 interview summary on his site says he paints across Asia, asking permission or finding abandoned walls. sath.es · Bored Panda · Urban DNA
Check-in guide
- 📍
- Penang, Malaysia (sath.es, Design You Trust). None of the sources we found names the street or the town on the island, so the exact wall is not known.
- 🧭
- The Maps button opens central George Town, Penang’s capital, only as a starting point. It does not mark the wall.
- 👀
- The newest dated evidence is the artist’s own photo, taken on 31 March 2015. We found no later photo, so we do not know if the painting or the tree is still there.
Sightings
- 201531 Mar
Artist’s photo, camera date
- 20151 Jul
Design You Trust
- 20158 Jul
Sath on Bored Panda
- 201510 Jul
On Street Art Utopia
- 20265 Oct
In SAU Nature vol. 5
Every stamp links to the dated source. The green stamp is the only dated photo of the wall: the camera date of the artist’s photo. Amber stamps are publications of the work, not new sightings.
On the record
Urban Interventions: I Create Street Art That Interacts With Its Surroundings
“Most of my works are inspired by the location where the intervention is carried out, sometimes an object, a texture or a hole in a wall. In other cases, the artwork title (usually a pun) leads me to represent the idea and search for the right place to express it.”
The artist’s own post. The photo of this work is captioned “Penang (Malaysia, 2015)”.
Urban Interventions By Sath
“Nu(tree)tion – Penang (Malaysia, 2015)”
The caption under the photo. The post opens: “Mallorca (Spain). Sath opened his eyes for the first time in 1983.”
Urban DNA
“Su práctica ambulante de arte callejero lo ha llevado a lugares remotos de Asia, incluidos Myanmar, Malasia, Singapur, Hong Kong e Indonesia, donde pinta después de pedir permiso o encontrar paredes abandonadas.”
“His roaming street art practice has taken him to remote places in Asia, including Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia, where he paints after asking permission or finding abandoned walls.” The summary adds that his favourite place to paint in Asia so far “¡está en Malasia!” (is in Malaysia!). It does not name this work.
The facts
- Artist
- Sath, a painter and graphic designer born on Mallorca, Spain, in 1983 (sath.es, Design You Trust) Checked
- Real name
- Sandro Thomàs, given as a tag on Sath’s own Bored Panda post; the artist’s site uses only “Sath” (Bored Panda) Reported
- Title
- “Nu(tree)tion”, painted on the wall as NU(TREE)TION; the artist’s image file is named “nutreetion” (sath.es, Design You Trust) Checked
- Year
- 2015 (Design You Trust, Bored Panda). The artist’s site dates the whole Penang series “2015 – 2016”, and his photo has a camera date of 31 March 2015 Checked
- Place
- Penang, Malaysia (sath.es, Design You Trust, Bored Panda) Checked
- Street
- Not given in any source we found; we could not confirm that it is in George Town Unconfirmed
- Medium
- The artist’s Penang series is tagged “Acrylic” and “Spray paint”; the medium of this piece alone is not stated (sath.es) Reported
- Photo
- Sath’s own photo: the file on Street Art Utopia and the one on his website are the same frame from the same camera, dated 31 March 2015 (sath.es file) Checked
- Status
- No dated photo or report after 2015; whether it still exists is not known Unconfirmed
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: When Nature Becomes Art (10 Photos vol. 5) (5 October 2026), where the photo above appeared as work no. 6.
- The first time we showed it: By Sath in Mallorca and Penang (10 July 2015), with “I be-leaf in you” from the same Penang series.
- The artist’s Penang series, 2015–2016. sath.es
- The artist’s own posts. Sath on Facebook
All sources (7)
This work
- sath.es: “Penang”, the artist’s portfolio page, undated, images uploaded January 2018. “Penang (Malasia) | 2015 – 2016”; lists “Nu(tree)tion” with six other works; tags “Juego de palabras”, “Mural”, “Acrylic”, “Spray paint”. The image file has the camera date 31 March 2015.
- Bored Panda: “Urban Interventions: I Create Street Art That Interacts With Its Surroundings”, 8 July 2015, posted by Sath. Photo captioned “Penang (Malaysia, 2015)”; pun-first method; tag “Sandro Thomàs”.
- Design You Trust: “Urban Interventions By Sath”, 1 July 2015. Caption “Nu(tree)tion – Penang (Malaysia, 2015)”; born on Mallorca in 1983.
The artist
- sath.es: “Sobre mí”, undated. Mallorca, born 1983, graphic design studies in Palma from 2004.
- sath.es: “Urban DNA”, 25 February 2016, summary of an Urban DNA interview. Paints across Asia, with permission or on abandoned walls; favourite place in Asia is in Malaysia. The linked interview page is no longer online.
Our own posts (not counted)
- Street Art Utopia: “By Sath in Mallorca and Penang”, 10 July 2015. First publication of this photo on SAU.
- Street Art Utopia: “When Nature Becomes Art (10 Photos vol. 5)”, 5 October 2026, work no. 6.
Artwork File · Last checked 5 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files