My First Street Art

Dots

[Local, Aroha, Understated]: The dots represent each person within a community connected to each other by a series of other dots in what appears to be a random yet almost formed tentacles around the body of the bollard. Moving upwards, the dots of the galaxy, there is still something much larger out there, dots are people, but they are also the stars in our universe. Top, the dot we see both the people and the universe with, the eye. Pointing upwards at the sky, this is one the dots that connects us to the community and the rest of space and time.

January 2020, the Palmerston North City Council kindly gave me permission to paint a bollard on George Street, Palmerston North, during a street fair.

This was the first time I was out in the public showcasing my painting style for everyone to see. Normally, a painting that I do at home can take anywhere between an hour to a few months to complete, and I work on these paintings at my own pace and start over if deemed necessary, whereas, painting this bollard exposed me to a whole new paradigm of painting circumstances.

There was no starting over, I wanted to finish this bollard before sunset, I had to move myself around the bollard to paint, the concrete was hard, the sun was hot, the paint dried too fast or too slow, etc.

Despite all of this, it was the most exciting and still enjoyable thing I have ever done! I got to really engage with the community that I share this city with. Met and talked to heaps of people. This project brought me close to the heart of a culture I never realized I could harness like this.

Street art for me, is about giving back to the community, weaving layers of story for people to see and ponder over.