Nicknamed the “first lady of graffiti”, Lady Pink’s work is known for its celebration of women. The Ecuadorian-American artist was one of the first women active on the New York graffiti scene at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s, earning her a lead role in the seminal hip hop film, Wild Style, in 1983.

While still at high school Pink began exhibiting in art galleries and by the age of 21 she had her first solo show. More recently she has designed a perfume bottle for Lancôme and turned her signature designs into a clothing range.

Pink’s latest project is to create a 33 foot long mural on the walls of one of the new World Trade Center buildings, built to replace those destroyed by terrorist attacks on September 11 2001. The artist’s creation for this particular space will be based on her Unity Tree design, because she says, “The world has never been the same, but what we can celebrate is all the peacefulness and happiness that we enjoy in New York City with all the nations and nationalities living together”.

New York reporter Tara Gadomski joins Lady Pink over the course of a week to witness her new painting come to life.