12 May 2015

Aucklander wins with street art

1:07 pm on 12 May 2015

A New Zealander has won an international graffiti competition in Tahiti.

Graffiti art by Charles Williams.

Charles Williams' winning entry. Photo: Charles Williams

Charles Williams, from Auckland, competed against almost 30 graffiti artists from around the world during the island's graffiti festival.

He said the contest was over five days, with only 10 competitors left on the final day for an against-the-clock painting.

They had only four and a half hours to complete their own creation.

Mr Williams said competitiors earlier in the contest had to paint graffiti lettering, scenery and characters and take part in a team graffiti challenge.

Graffiti art by Charles Williams.

Graffiti from day 4 of the competition. Photo: Charles Williams

For his final free-choice composition he used graffiti style characters and his theme was Tahiti's Most Dangerous, playing on the letters of the TMD artists' collective he founded.

It featured a cartoon character beast from the X Man and contrasts of colours.

He and his wife Janine described their style as a graphic, colourful outworking of their environmental and genealogical urban Maori heritage.

They said they combined their background in graffiti and street art with their love for endemic birds, native birds and flowers.

Graffiti art by Charles Williams.

The entry from day 1 of the competition. Photo: Charles Williams

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