Art as the voice of Ōtautahi: Jacob Yikes
Art both transforms the city’s built environment and reflects our culture.
As a full time artist living and working in Ōtautahi, I’m fortunate to watch and be a part of the city’s growth and changing aesthetic through its murals and street art.
Like the 11 storey high mural I painted on the side of the Distinction Hotel last year, entitled Narcissa (which is the tallest mural in Aotearoa at 55m high), both my mural and studio works speak on symbolic storytelling, humour and mythology, which I transform into immersive visual worlds. I’m interested in exploring the space between the ancient and the contemporary, the spiritual and the absurd.
Through painting, I am able to build layered compositions that reflect dream states, memory, transformation and the subconscious mind.
Being an artist who works outdoors, as well as in a studio, allows me to treat my work as a space for discovery where ideas can unfold naturally and at the same time brighten walls that were once grey and not so appealing. I’m drawn to art that feels emotionally raw, playful and alive. I try to create works that invite viewers into strange but familiar psychological landscapes.
Living and working in Ōtautahi continues to influence my perspective, and I aim to contribute a distinct visionary voice to the city’s evolving creative culture through work that’s imaginative, immersive and deeply personal. I have some big things coming up in the next couple years and I plan to release more than 50 new paintings in many galleries across the country and Australia.
