This work is strongly influenced by the velvet paintings of Edgar Leeteg and, in particular, the New Zealand painter Charles McPhee, whose images have become cultural touchstones. The mood of those works aligned perfectly with our intention to celebrate the cultural heritage of Ponsonby and Grey Lynn.

One of McPhee’s classic paintings, “La belle de Tahiti,” was also used on the cover of the NZ hip‑hop album Break it to Pieces by Samoan rapper A Feelstyle, produced by Submariner. We loved the deeper cultural resonance this brought and decided to reinterpret the image for our context.

We asked photographer Rakai Karaitiana to reshoot the iconic composition. He agreed, and we chose his daughter, Haromi Karaitiana, as our subject. With parents who grew up in the Grey Lynn / Ponsonby community and Samoan, Māori and European heritage herself, Haromi embodied the multicultural roots and continuity we wanted to reflect.

The mural presents a striking five‑metre high figure to carry the work’s themes and to add an element of empowerment. Presenting a subject with Māori, Polynesian and European heritage was essential to representing the diverse cultural melting pot of contemporary Grey Lynn, Auckland and New Zealand.

All of us have grown up here, and from the outset our aim was to enrich this place — to create something that enhances the site and offers visual pleasure and inspiration for years to come.

Dimensions: 5.4 m × 4.4 m. Technique: three‑layer stencil with patterned details. Painted 26–27 November 2016.