If you’re strolling around Auckland’s CBD this January, direct your feet to the Britomart precinct to see the artwork of Charlotte Graham. Installed on the ground, it was printed by Soar.
The artwork, known as Te Waiora, consists of 24 hand-painted water droplets, many of them inscribed with Maori motifs. The droplets have been materialised as 1200 self-adhesive decals, which you can see applied to walkways throughout Britomart. Te Waiora will remain in place until the end of January 2019.
Charlotte created the artwork to emphasise Christmas as a time of connectedness between whanau and friends; people and the land; past, the present and future. She chose water as a motif because of the way it refers to the maritime histories of Maori, Pakeha and Pacific peoples, as well as Aotearoa’s more recent immigrants. In the Maori language, wai means ‘water’ and ora means ‘life’.
The droplets were printed with UV-resistant latex inks on two specialist anti-slip self-adhesive products, to allow for different surfaces, using our new HP Latex R2000 digital press. This same press is often used to print vinyl car wraps, bespoke adhesive wall murals, point of sale materials and signage. It can print both on roll and rigid substrates up to 50mm thick and boasts the smoothest white ink laydown available in New Zealand today.
To find out more about reproducing artwork onto self-adhesive or other materials, email Brian Landry at brianl@soarprint.co.nz
