Bird flight in street art reflects river life

FLYING HIGH: Street artist Mikaere Gardiner with his partially completed mural, and his sketch of the full design.PHOTO/STUART MUNRO 150315WCSMMURAL1

Street artist Mikaere Gardiner completed his sixth Wanganui mural at the weekend.

The work is on a wall of the Whanganui Arts @ The Centre (formerly the Wanganui Community Arts Centre building) on Taupo Quay.

Mr Gardiner was hard at work on the mural yesterday morning when the Chronicle caught up with him.

"There are nine native birds - five land birds and four coastal birds. They are metaphors for the landscape around the Whanganui River," he said.

Mr Gardiner began painting the mural on Friday morning and hoped to have it finished by this morning. He was using Resene housepaint, which he said is the "best there is" for street art.

It's the longest mural he's painted in Wanganui, but not the tallest.

"When you do street art, there's so much to take into account, and a lot you can't control. Like the material you're painting on, the weather, and the reaction of the public.

"You're not painting in your own studio; you're out there for everyone to see."

Mr Gardiner has a particular liking for painting modern designs on historic buildings, especially brick.

"Brick can be quite challenging to paint on, it has all those crevices you have to fill in - and it absorbs a lot of paint."

The bird mural was designed by Mr Gardiner, but some local students helped him paint it.

Mr Gardiner, based at Pukawa Bay near Turangi, is the first annual artist-in-residence at Whanganui Arts @ The Centre.

He is having an exhibition at Space Gallery later this month. Opening on March 28, it is titled Drawing Number II, Love Lust and Cultural Hibernation, and features a variety of media.