ARC Onehunga Residential Mural by Valerie Auersperg in Auckland

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)