We first came across Cinzah on the World Wide Web whilst trawling the internet for New Zealand's artistic talent. Boy, did we find what we were looking for! Our relationship with this epic-ly talented artist grew from our initial collaboration on our now end-of-edition 'Dive' t-shirt and has evolved into board art collaborations on both wine-barrel and maple decks. Cinzah is an established Napier-based street artist known for his wild, colourful, and eye-catching murals. He was one of the founders of the Auckland street art movement, painting the walls of the city by night nearly a decade ago. Now, he’s a well-traveled exhibitor whose work has been shown across New Zealand as well as Australia, Japan, Southeast Asia, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and the United States.
Working from and for the environment, our synergy with Cinzah has grown stronger and stronger. He speaks our language visually but also acts with 'Artivism' to support environmental change and protection of our oceans. A huge part of this is his role in co-ordinating the New Zealand leg of Sea Walls: Art for the Ocean. Sea Walls is the PangeaSeed Foundation’s public art program that brings the message of ocean conservation into streets around the globe.
"While our oceans are the Earth’s life support system, providing 70% of the oxygen we breathe, a sixth of the animal protein people eat, medicines that keep us alive and healthy, and so much more, human impact in the form of overfishing, climate change, development, plastics, and other forms of pollution are taking a toll on the health of our seas. Unfortunately, these critical issues are often complex, multi-faceted and hard to understand for the average citizen. Through public art, Sea Walls has the opportunity to translate facts into visual stories that engage the public in a non-confrontational manner, and increase awareness." This is a Cause we are 100% behind and would love to get more involved in.
His work is unforgettable and unique, telling stories of the relationship between man and nature, making him a perfect fit for us here at The Paper Rain Project! We were instantly attracted to his outlandish, original characters that literally pop off the page at us. His exhaustive attention to detail and dedication to whimsy makes his work truly original and delightful.
Cinzah paints with a strong sense of colour, movement and balance. His work also explores themes such as the interrelationship between man and nature, duality, mythology and story telling. Oh, and he has an excellent moustache.
See our latest collaboration with Cinzah HERE - or go check out his Great Blue Heron at Framingham Underground, Framingham Wines, Marlborough before July 16th.
