ARC Onehunga Residential Mural by Valerie Auersperg in Auckland
ARC Onehunga Residential Mural
This mural was a custom job for ARC Onehunga, a build for rent residential development.
Home is a place to feel safe, to unfold yourself and to be yourself, to be playful but also to relax and take a moment. It is the walls we live in but also the community surrounding us.
The pond is half nature and half a pool as is the combination of the pools and natural harbour in Onehunga. Playful Orcas quietly play in the water while a girl is relaxing on her flamingo floatie (a pool staple combined with orcas that can sometimes be found in the Onehunga harbour).
The little paper boat is something that unifies us as most of us have at one time in their life made one. It’s a memory of home and joy as you watch it calmly float on the water.
There is a tea cup in the centre with Maori/Pacifica pattern and a fern growing - this is showing the harmonious living together of cultures and home being a beautiful place for new beginnings. Also, of course, for me a tea cup is the ultimate comfort home item.
In the air there is a balloon (which will be semi-hidden between the spotlights) which are the hidden joys of what it is to be at home.
You can draw an X if you connect the items in the water which is to say you have arrived, you’re home now (like the X on a treasure map)
Valerie Auersperg is an Austrian artist living in New Zealand who creates acrylic paintings, murals as well as digital illustrations depicting pop-surreal scenes in a colourful, dream-like manner.
Auersperg explores the world inside and around herself, pairing the expected with the unusual. She focuses on themes such as memory (real and perceived), pop culture and mental health. Her work is a whimsical commentary on how our inner journeys, moods and situations are something that connects us.
Auersperg’s paintings always start with a memory, a mood or just a nostalgic feeling. Living far away from where she grew up informs these recollections of home and comfort. She then weaves these into scenes of optimism and escapism adding little delightful details such as smiley faces, whales, flamingos, balloons, 90s memorabilia and toys, etc to her paintings, aiming to evoke a feeling of joy and wonder and put a smile on the observer’s face.
She starts sketching her ideas digitally, creating the composition on an iPad before transferring the work to a canvas. This allows her to play around with colours and placements before painting the final piece. In addition to painting on canvas, she has also completed a number of murals in private residences, offices and public spaces as well as created sculptures for display in Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand.
Auersperg is a self-taught artist, having worked in fashion and animation, as well as advertising previously. Yet art was always her passion and side hustle. Then, finally, in 2020, she finally took the leap to become a full-time artist. She has had exhibitions in San Francisco, CA and Auckland, NZ as well as been featured in various global virtual exhibitions such as PxP Contemporary’s ‘WILD’ (curated by Alicia Puig), Sergio Gomez’ ‘Isolation Chronicles’, Create Magazine’s ‘Healing from Within’ (curated by Tam Gryn), and Beautiful Things NZ’ ‘The People We See’. She has also been featured in PIKCHUR Magazine, Envison Arts magazine, Fennec Home Magazine and New Visionary Magazine, has been profiled on Create! Magazine’s online blog as well as The Big Idea NZ website, and has been part of the WWF Whale Tail trail in Auckland in 2022.
More artwork by Valerie
Emotions 20
Wrapped Office Wall
Nomadic Art Gallery - Truck
Painted Sculpture - Whale Tales 2022
Custom social media tile illustration for Pure Pirana
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