No Bed of Roses

George was the centre-point of the show and was asked to paint the talk auditorium. The space housed conversations, debate and talks about the rise and rise of street art. “The auditorium was purpose-built for the event. Previous to its intended use, it was simply a storeroom that housed a lot of wood,” George says. She was excited to be provided such an open space and was immediately attracted to something that could be overwhelming for a visually overloaded audience.

As the festival heavily referenced contemporary graffiti culture, George decided to play with the idea of tagging – choosing to cover every crevice of the theatre with a motif of her namesake, the rose. The final execution was a pattern of rose thus replicating the act of laying claim and ownership enacted through tagging and throw ups in the urban landscape.

Over 200 litres of Resene paint was used to create this space with a palette of Resene California, Resene Canary, Resene Chetwode Blue, Resene Governor Bay, Resene Grenadier, Resene Malibu, Resene Paua, Resene Riptide, Resene Smitten, Resene Spritzer, Resene Switched On and Resene Black.

This project is part of a body of work that won the Resene Total Colour Visual Art Award. The judges said "an incredible body of work, bold interpretations and colour palettes bring streetscapes and public spaces to life in a true celebration of colour and artistry. The works are so over scaled to suit each environment. With an underlying style, the art is reinvented with each brief so that each work truly shines on its own. Harnessing an enviable eye for colour, the colour palettes and proportions are beautifully and brilliantly intertwined."

Artist: George Rose
Artist representation: Eddie Zammit
Client: Can’t Do Tomorrow (Urban Arts Festival)
Photographer: Holly Hawkins and Shannyn Higgins
Winner: Resene Total Colour Visual Art Award
Project: Resene Total Colour Awards 2020