Making mark in street art
Artist painting the town with joy
THERE’S a power in art to shake up our assumptions, returning wonder to the familiar walls of our localities and casting them fresh.
Meet Matty Tepaea. He dares to live in bright colour and bold textures and uses a spray gun to dream magic.
“My troubled youth was definitely what set me up for a future in grand-scale artworks.
“Back in NZ, the thing to do was to write our names on everything as we walked around the streets.
“It actually wasn’t a rebellious thing. We weren’t trying to go against our parents or society, it was just something we did.
“That is what graffiti largely is but I just didn’t know it at the time.
“When I saw the subway art of New York, it blew my mind that people actually do this large-scale art.
“I think there’s always been an element of street art in me from the beginning.
“I picked up an airbrush gun at 19 and all of a sudden it made sense to me.
“Street art will forever be my thing. Gallery art has just never been my vibe.
“There’s a joy in seeing a blank wall and creating something incredible on it for sure but what really gets me excited though is seeing other people enjoy it.
“This Elvis piece behind me was about invigorating the Gold Coast after Covid.
“I just wanted to get art back on the table.
“Yes, it was awesome to see it recognised by Baz Luhrmann, but it was designed for the Gold Coast. “My dream? To do more of this behind me.
“I am already a fulltime commission artist but I want to help communities that have great stories behind them and want to celebrate people.
“I would totally love to celebrate some incredible Gold Coasters. Give me six largescale walls and let’s go! “Invigorating community is what I’m about.
“I love the Gold Coast. I’ve been here for 20 years and I’ll never live anywhere else.” Follow @facesofthegoldcoast for more local stories.