Big Apple Project public art trail coming to Hastings

Napier artist Patrick Tyman painting his apple as part of The Big Apple Project. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke's Bay is often named the fruit bowl of New Zealand and now there are 20 more reasons to do so.

The Big Apple Project is a mass participation public art trail event brought to Hastings by Arts Inc Heretaunga, Studio Benega and the Hawke's Bay Arts Festival.

Napier-based artist Patrick Tyman is one of 20 local artists who have been given a one cubic metre fibreglass apple to use as a blank canvas and create a unique apple sculpture. Once complete, the apples will weave through Hastings, creating a fun, free art gallery from mid-August to October, before being put up in a public auction at the 2022 Hawke's Bay Arts Festival.

Patrick was asked by Hastings Community Arts Centre to put forward a design for the project, which has taken him three weeks so far.

"I think it is a great idea and gives local artists a chance to contribute to the community. It has been a challenge to paint on a curved surface of fibreglass."

Patrick says he wanted his to represent his art so used artists grade Winsor & Newton oil paint and bright colours on a gold background to paint his apple.

"There are about 100 apples painted on it and it's called Unity with Variety, representing the diversity of the apples in Hawke's Bay and its culture."

Patrick spent 17 years growing up in India, which has influenced a Southern-Asian aesthetic often expressed in his art. He moved to England where he was educated at Dover College. Patrick then studied visual art at Medway College of Art and Design, Kingston University, and Brighton University. He completed a master's degree at Massey University and immigrated to New Zealand in 1996. He now lives in Napier and is head of art at Iona College.

His artwork has been compared to a highly decorated sari, where patterns repeat and echo within each composition. He is also influenced by the Pacific nation's native flora, climate, light and lifestyle which have helped further develop his art. New Zealand's landscape also integrates with his love of the Indian sub-continent. As a result, his paintings display the bright, rich colours of both the South Pacific and tropical India.

■ For more information about The Big Apple Project visit https://www.artsinc.co.nz/projects/the-big-apple-project/the-big-apple-project/