New Artworks to Shine in TSB Bank Festival of Lights

Two popular features of the TSB Bank Festival of Lights have had an artistic makeover for this year’s event.

Both Poet’s Bridge and the black-light area have become art features in their own right, thanks to the design skills of artist Nicola Haines.

The black-light area has been transformed into a fluorescent garden, complete with enlarged lilies and kowhai, and glowing rocks; while Poet’s Bridge has been designed to mirror the way nature runs away with itself.

“The Poet’s Bridge artwork plays on the name and reads like a three-dimensional signature to be walked through, and each loop and curve is like a viewfinder through which the rest of the park’s features can be enjoyed,” says Ms Haines.

“The oversized flowers beneath the black lights are meant to challenge our sense of scale, and our sense of how important we are in the scheme of things.

“We’re all children at heart and it’s great to have features we can all enjoy, but these artworks also have underlying messages that can be read at the same time.”

Ms Haines moved to New Plymouth from the UK 18 months ago, but says Pukekura Park has been part of her consciousness for much longer as her brother-in-law is the former Manager Premier Parks Bryan Gould.

“He was always writing home and telling us about the park – he was very proud of it,” says Ms Haines.

“Since I moved here I have spent an enormous amount of time in the park and it has been wonderful to be able to contribute to it in some way.”

Also new to the festival this season are digital artwork projections by Omata artist Alastair Tattersall and internationally acclaimed visual musician Tim Gruchy. In addition, Len Lye’s Big Blade will be returning to the Fred Parker Lawn for a limited number of shows from January.

All of the new artworks use light in intriguing ways to hold the attention of young and old, says Team Leader Events Melissa Devine.

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“We’re very lucky to have these accomplished artists adding their skills to the festival, because they all bring a different ‘wow’ factor that will get people talking about them afterward,” she says.

This year’s TSB Bank Festival of Lights runs from 16 December to 10 February. This will be followed by a limited Friday-Sunday season until the weekend of 23 March to coincide with the Jack Johnson concert at the TSB Bowl of Brooklands in Pukekura Park.

More details about the TSB Bank Festival of Lights are available online at www.festivaloflights.co.nz.