Conquering trauma through art
Michael Angel-burke admits even he is a work of art.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit and a pair of angel wings, the Manawatu¯ artist says he has only one mission – tomake people smile. ‘‘I dress like this daily with the intention of brightening up people’s days – that’s it – there is no other reason.’’
To maintain the charade, he adopted the moniker Michael Angelo after the famous Italian painter. It soon became his de facto name.
The eccentric artist has several painted wood carvings on display this month at the Feilding and District Art Gallery. They range from $300 to $10,000.
His choice of palette is often vibrant, a stark contrast from a childhood that, the 67-year-old says, featured little laughter.
Born with brain damage, he was unable to speak until hewas 14 and would elude schoolyard bullies by climbing trees.
‘‘I spent a lot of time talking to the nature spirits,’’ he said. ‘‘At school, I was a bit slow catching on aboutwhat was going on in the classroom ... I still have problems reading and writing.’’
Angelo had never touched a paint brush until he visited a marae in Rotorua towatch a wood carving exhibition 20 years ago.
The man creating the carvings asked Angelo if he wanted to learn the skill. He accepted the challenge and mastered the art in an hour.
‘‘He spent months teaching students to do what I did in one hour. He said I had a natural talent to do it.’’
Angelo spent the next six months working on carvings at Mihiroa Marae, near Hastings, before spending six years at art school. He then became a fulltime artist. Some of his intricate works take over half a year to complete.
‘‘You draw it first, carve lines into the wood with a chisel, cut it with a jigsaw and then paint. One piece took seven months, and that’s five hours a day, five days a week.’’
His drawings include native birds, such as kereru and kiwi, peacocks, horses, native trees and forests. Pointing toward a painting of a red-shanked douc monkey, Angelo says: ‘‘This ismy self-portrait.’’ Angelo doesn’t plan his art: ‘‘The inspiration just comes frommy soul.’’