Mural celebrating Ruth Bader Ginsburg unveiled in New York's East Village

A huge colourful portrait of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg now greets people walking over an East Village crosswalk in New York City.

The three-story mural features a collage of vibrant images of an eagle, dove and flower, symbolising the justice’s life.

"I think it's very beautiful ... very inspirational,” said New York resident Teddy Koutsos. “In New York, we have a lot of inspiration through art.”

The mural’s creator, who goes by the pseudonym Elle and signs her work with “ElleStreetArt”, said she was excited to honour Ginsburg’s life. 

The project was commissioned by advocacy group IntoAction and a Los Angeles-based creative agency, TaskForce, the organisations that commissioned former US President Barack Obama 'Hope' poster.

“What we see is this incredible woman who had an incredible work ethic and fought hard for what she believed in," Elle told Reuters.

Ginsburg was a stalwart liberal on the US Supreme Court starting in 1993, and many of her decisions championed gender equality and liberal causes.

Raised in a working-class family in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, Ginsburg overcame sexism in the male-dominated worlds of law school and the legal profession, becoming just the second woman ever to serve on the nine-member Supreme Court.

READ MORE: What to expect after the death of Justice Ginsburg?