Finding centre of graffiti
It may have been a weekend of mindnumbing tragedy for most, but the for the artists involved in this year’s Boon Hamilton Street Art Festival the goal – successfully achieved – was all about putting a smile back on people’s faces.
The centre of the city became a focal point for all kinds of artistic creativity on Saturday, as well as a gathering point for those glad to have something to take their minds off the massacre in Christchurch.
As well as the street art festival, Garden Place played host to a day-long Hamilton Buskers Festival, while nearby street artists entertained the masses.
In Worley Place, Waipu artist Melinda Butt was giving a Centre Place mall exterior wall a literally eye-catching makeover – her design featuring a large eye peering out on passers-by.
‘‘I’m a big fan of joy,’’ she said. ‘‘I want all my work to incite joy and imagination.’’
In the Victoria on the River space Wellington’s Tien Hee – who goes by the artist name of T Wei – was busy painting a stylised depiction of the Waikato River.
‘‘I wanted to reflect the river, the eels and how important it all is. The fisherman, his head is a bucket that is holding the eels. It’s a very playful reflection of its surroundings . . . You could describe my style as pop surrealism.’’
Two of the most prominent new murals are the transformation of the Hamilton Central Library by Christie Wright, and Daniel Ormsby and Jeremy Shirley’s dramatic makeover of the Hamilton City Council chambers.
Some of the forms of artistic expression were not quite as permanent. In Garden Place, Courteney Mayall was providing the trees with some snazzy woollen clothes to shelter them during the winter months.
‘‘This is the first time I have yarn bombed,’’ she laughed. ‘‘I hope it gets to stay up for a while.’’