Published by STREETARTNEWS
James Bullough just returned from New Zealand for the SeaWalls project hosted by Pangeaseed where he created this wonderful piece of work.
‘Pania’ is the legendary protector of the reef in local Maori folklore and is believed to live in the waters off the coast of Napier NZ, the city where he painted her portrait.
“‘Pania’ is the legendary protector of the reef in local Maori folklore and is believed to live in the waters off the coast of Napier NZ, the city where I painted her portrait. I had the great honor of meeting with some of Pania’s direct descendants in the city of Napier and other local Maori historians and speak with them about the best way to depict Pania and tell her story through my mural. In working with Pangeaseed Foundation and the Sea Walls project on this mural, it was also my honor to highlight the pressing ocean conservation issue of Acidification. Due to man made climate concerns, specifically the raising CO2 levels in our atmosphere, the acidity levels of our oceans have risen and continue to rise at alarming rates killing our reefs and the delicate ecosystems around them worldwide. To illustrate this I have depicted Pania floating defiant and hopeful over her reef despite the fact that it is void of all life and she herself is dissolving from the dangerously high acid levels.”