The expansive mural by SwiftMantis at the Regent Pahiatua. Photo / Derrick Sims
The expansive mural by SwiftMantis at the Regent Pahiatua. Photo / Derrick Sims
A gigantic mural by artist SwiftMantis has been completed at the Regent Pahiatua. The mural depicts five New Zealand films: King Kong, The Quiet Earth, The Piano, Lord of the Rings and Vigil.
The work was funded by Explore Pahiatua, Tararua Cinematheque and Creative Communities NZ (Tararua Branch).
"It's beautiful work and really brightens up the town," said Alaina Sims, co-manager of the Regent. "I hope Pahiatua embraces it, and it stirs more interest in New Zealand film and art in general."
SwiftMantis worked through the winter months on the mural and says it's been a long process. He started painting murals in 2016, having professionally pursued art since he was 20. He learnt to tattoo first - whereby he developed his understanding of realism - and was offered a chance to do murals.
A qualified illustrator, SwiftMantis said he figured his murals are illustrations on a bigger scale. "I approach it a lot like an illustrator and with the same intensity as a tattoo, which I think is what helps my work stand out," he said.
He adapts aerosol and spray paint in a way that mimics his tattoo work. "I focus on realism, realistic imagery and predominantly animal realism in my mural work."
Ingrid De Graaf (back left), of Explore Pahiatua Committee and artist SwiftMantis. Front from left: Alaina and Derrick Sims of the Regent Pahiatua. Photo / Steve Carle
"I'm known for my cats around New Zealand and I like painting native birds, dogs, cats or any animal portraits. The Regent Pahiatua mural was an opportunity to do something a bit different. You rarely get the chance to do this type of imagery, featuring movies. I've been a huge lover of Lord of the Rings since I was a kid.
"It's one of the biggest walls I've tackled, the most complex colour scheme I've ever done, being half-cool and half-warm, and it's the most advanced colour scheme I've ever done.
"The subject matter has been challenging, with such a wide gamut. King Kong is where I'm most comfortable - my forte is fur, feathers and animal rendering. That was quite fun.
"Human faces are always quite difficult, Frodo worked out well on a large scale with spray. For smaller faces, I switched to brushes/spray, a painstaking process.
"There were lots of good challenges in it. It pushed me on a lot of levels I didn't really expect, such as the lady hanging on a piano," he said.
SwiftMantis is based in Palmerston North, where most of his work is - especially the iconic big cat Squishee on the back of the Grand building, where in 2020 he did a stray story on a cat he had adopted. She was shared all around the world. It's recently been published in a book in New York by Rizzoli Publishing.
"As a result of the success, I did a series of stray stories in New Zealand: Kevin the school cat, Hanger in Whanganui, Niko in Levin and Olive in Christchurch. We picked a stray cat at a shelter that didn't have a home yet and I painted the mural of the cat without having a home," he said. Within a month, from the exposure of the mural, a home was found. He is up to cat number five now and his work spans from Whangārei down to Christchurch and soon Invercargill.
Now that the mural is complete, Regent managers Derrick and Alaina Sims want to turn their attention to restoring the building's front facade. "It's looking a bit tired and needs cleaning and the cracks need patching. A gorgeous paint job along with lighting repairs should get her back in shape," said Derrick Sims.
Plans to fundraise for the facade update are already under way.
