Pegasus Post: October 13, 2022

8 Thursday October 13 2022
Artwork reflects healing process
• By Natalie Pham
A YOUNG artist is healing his
emotion and childhood pain
through art.
“Expressive” and “bright” are
how 17-year-old Jake Kahurangi
described his 11 artworks, which
are on display at The Bridge Hub
South Brighton.
The New Brighton resident
said he paints with oils because
it makes him work with his
mistakes.
“It’s difficult to paint over oils
once you have applied them.”
Depending on his creative
flows, the artwork took from two
days to three weeks to finish.
Sometimes, the flow would come
to Jake as soon as he added more
colours on the canvas.
Jake started painting almost
two years ago as a way to
distract himself from the
thoughts of using and needing
substances.
“We did drugs first for the fun
and enjoyable experiment, but
the problem was it then spiralled
into something else,” he recalled.
It didn’t take him long before
he realised they were using
substances to numb their
problems.
Said Jake: “I got used a lot by
those people because I really
do care. It’s easy because I care
about people deeply.
“If all of your friends do drugs,
you don’t really have any friends.
It’s just everyone using everyone
for the money and for the high.
That’s all they care about, not
you.”
He later managed to quit all of
the substances within four weeks
thanks to his mentor and best
friend Jonny Bear.
“I learnt from all of my darkness.
I figured out where they
came from and I see them as a
teaching rather than something I
should run away from. It’s making
me stronger,” Jake said.
The young artist also hoped
to deliver a message that anyone
can do art through his exhibition.
“I thought I was bad at painting
and art stuff, but I really
enjoy it after giving it a go.”
The exhibition Healing
Through Art will run until the
end of this month.
YOUNG ARTIST: Jake
Kahurangi is using art as a
way to express his emotion
and thoughts. The artwork
is on display at The Bridge
Hub South Brighton until
the end of this month.
PHOTOS:: THE BRIDGE HUB
SOUTH BRIGHTON ​
CAN YOU
HELP?
Dementia Canterbury
Annual Appeal
Dates: Friday 18th and Saturday 19th
November 2022
Can we “Appeal” to you to help collect?
Teams/Service Groups of 6-8 to oversee
a site for a day, individuals to collect for
2-hour slots.
Please phone or email
03 379 2590 extn 216
appeal@dementiacanterbury.org.nz