Mischief's mosaic makeover

Maiangi Waitai and daughter Coco (seven months) during the restoration of the mosaic wall. Photo / Paul Brooks

Twenty years ago Maiangi Waitai created a large mosaic on a courtyard wall behind a Guyton St café.

Recently she returned to Whanganui and made it a mission to freshen up her work and give it new life.

The mosaic is on a brick wall in the cosy courtyard of Mischief on Guyton, where people often comment on its content, vibrancy and beauty.

Maiangi's Whanganui roots are strong, strong enough to care about this piece of her work and ensure its durability. She was born here but moved away. Her mother still lives here. She returned years later to go to Art School and in 1997 she created the mosaic.

"That's when it was the Red Eye Café. I used to work here and did my degree here at Art School in 1999," says Maiangi. She made the mosaic in exchange for a food tab. She says she's not sure how long it took to make but the repaint and tidy up this year took around 60-70 hours and a few coffees and pieces of cake.

The idea for the design has its roots in Tibetan Buddhism.

"In 1997 Tibetan monks came to Whanganui to do a sand mandala at the Sarjeant Gallery ... It was a pretty special thing.

"They did it over 15 days and I remember going to watch them do it. That's where I got the idea from."

While sand mandalas are all about creation and process, with the work destined to be destroyed upon completion, Maiangi wanted to engage in a similar process but make her completed work a permanent thing, or as permanent as possible.

That was 20 years ago. Now she is a kindergarten teacher at Te Papa in Wellington.
Recently she returned to Whanganui to visit her mother and "hang out with my young daughter" and thought she'd check on her mosaic.

Seeing it was in need of repair, Maiangi left a note for Sonya Mathias, Mischief owner, asking if she could restore it. It wasn't lost on her that the mosaic was now 20 years old. Sonya bought the paint and has plans to put a protective covering over the wall.

Now, the large, circular, mandala-inspired work of glass, tiles and broken crockery has been completely repainted and restored by the artist who created it.
"It's beautiful," says Sonya. "I hope it's still here in another 20 years."