Super skill swap

Sharu Delilkan | 9th February 2010

A Mangere youth worker tells Sharu Delilkan how mentoring a 5-year-old boy in art has taken him back to his own childhood.

Seeing art through the eyes of a 5-year-old child is the task Shaun Purcell set himself for Nathan Homestead's Treasure Chest of Children's Art show.

"I love collaborating with people to create artwork and, in this case, creating it with a child has been extremely exhilarating," says the Mangere youth worker who is collaborating with 5-year-old Poona Otimi on a painting for the show.

Purcell says working with Poona has been like stepping back into his own childhood.

"We're just moving with the piece and working on it, adding bit by bit. It's exciting not knowing where we'll end up."

Treasure Chest of Children's Art, the first exhibition of its kind at the gallery, is timed specifically to lead into Children's Day in March. It will feature children's work, joint adult/child creations and artworks about children. Aptly named Identify Yourself, Purcell's and Poona's piece mixes media - spray paint, marker pens and acrylics - on a large canvas.

Purcell says he noticed Poona's creative talent when he tagged along on one of the boy's group art classes.

"He seemed to pick up things a lot quicker than some of the older kids.

"I could see that he's really bright so I've chosen to mentor him."

Nathan Homestead's programme coordinator, Vic Leilua, says the collaborative aspect of the exhibition is a two-way street - the artists, though at opposite ends of the age spectrum, are teaching and learning from each other.

In addition to the innocence that  Poona has brought to Identify Yourself, the young artist's outlook has, says Purcell, encouraged him to be more open-minded in the way he works - a freedom he's relishing.

Treasure Chest of Children's Art, Nathan Homestead Theatre, 70 Hill Rd, Manurewa, after Feb 21. Free entry. Ph 267 0180.