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Artist at work

23 May 2006

A new mural, designed and painted by Wellington artist Bruce Mahalski, is now complete at the Buckle Street entrance of the Basin Reserve. The mural has been commissioned by Transit New Zealand as part of the Wellington Inner City Bypass project.

The mural signifies the beginning of the Bypass for motorists and is an important contribution to the architectural design of the project.

Artist Bruce Mahalski was delighted to take up the challenge to transform a 48m section of concrete retaining wall into something visually exciting.

“I wanted to create something that would be really striking from a distance and the unusual shape of the wall meant that something more figurative would not have worked,” he said.

The design, titled 'Uenuku's Wall', has evolved from Bruce’s interest in rock art found both here in New Zealand and overseas. Bruce has travelled widely and is fascinated by the fact that very similar forms are found in cave drawings throughout the world.

“The animal and bird forms are inspired by my memories of the art I saw as a child while fossil hunting in caves in Central and North Otago. Admittedly my imagination also ran wild in creating some of the mythical creatures though,” says Bruce.

Transit project manager Jonnette Adams said she is pleased that Bruce accepted the challenge of transforming a bare wall into something the really added to the uniqueness of the Bypass project.

“The wall looks fantastic and we would really like to congratulate Bruce on doing such an amazing job. I’m sure motorists travelling the route will appreciate the effort and the detail that he has put into the project,” she said.

For more information contact:

Jonnette Adams
Project Manager
Transit New Zealand
DDI: 04 801 2598
Email: jonnette.adams@transit.govt.nz

Rebecca Collerton
Communications Advisor
Transit New Zealand
DDI: 04 801 2521
Email: rebecca.collerton@transit.govt.nz

About Bruce Mahalski

Artist at work
  • Bruce is 42 years old and has lived in Wellington for 15 years.
  • He grew up in the South Island and went to Otago University where he was involved in Student media.
  • He completed his science degree during a10 year period through Otago and Victoria Universities, which led to a job at MAFF.
  • He created his own fashion label ‘Fantastic Life’, which included screen-printing his own fabric designs.
  • He now divides his time between teaching at Inverlochy Art School and his own fine art projects.
  • Bruce chose the title ‘Uenuku’s Wall’ because he liked the sound of the name. Uenuku is the Maori Rainbow God.

 

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