Therapeutic street art unveiled

Kawakawa's latest piece of street art is also a monument to one woman's battle to overcome a serious illness.

Four years ago Moerewa mosaic artist Doddy Hohepa was commissioned to make an eye-catching seat for Kawakawa's main street.

She doesn't want to go into details, but soon afterwards she was diagnosed with a serious illness.

One of the things that got her through - as well as her whanau's love and support - was her determination to finish her work of art.

Finishing it took years instead of months, but last Friday the new seat, across the road from Hundertwasser's famous toilets, was unveiled by an emotional Mrs Hohepa.

Called A te wa ('When ever' or 'In good time'), it is decorated with thousands of tile fragments in the shape of flowers (kowhai and pohutukawa) and birds (including kukupa, tui, kokako, piwakawaka, kiwi, kotare and ruru).

"Finishing this was my dream. I think it helped me in my recovery, because I was so absolutely passionate to finish it. I couldn't wait to get off the couch of recovery and get back to working on it. I was so grateful and honoured to be asked to create it.

"Everything is exactly as I envisaged it," she said.

More than 100 friends and family members, including her son Dylan and daughter Billie Jo Hohepa, the former TVNZ reporter, gathered for Friday morning's ceremony.

The seat, commissioned by the Kawakawa Community Trust, was unveiled by Norma Cummings and blessed by Minister Glenys Davis.

A small area across the road from the toilets now boasts three striking public artworks - Mrs Hohepa's mosaic seat, a bronze lantern by Richard Smart and a Hundertwasser-inspired mural by the children of Karetu School.