Hello to everybody: Aotearoa's friendliest artist Sallie Culy

RNZ News

4 days ago

If cities can be lonely places no one told artist Sallie Culy.
A familiar face on the streets of inner city Pōneke Wellington, Sallie counts many people she has met a friend. Its an approach to life summed up in the title of a book of her drawings recently published:
Hello to Everybody
.
Sallie has Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes developmental and learning disabilities. But she has turned impediments into advantages.
Making it her business to make her city a friendlier place, she has also become celebrated for her art. Felt pen drawings of friends, family and celebrities, ranging from Elton John to Beyoncé,
Culy exhibited in December with up and coming dealer gallery Envy, and in 2022 her drawings were selected to be blown up big and lit for three months as a Courtney Place Lightbox public art project.
As an artist Sallie has a naive graphic style more familiar from childhood, but that belies how strong her bold wiry use of line and colour are. It's a style that arguably also makes her work appealing to everybody. Smiles welcome us everywhere, reminding us of the joy in people around us.
Hailing from a family of skateboarders and artists, skateboarding is also a common theme - Sallie has even been called a local celebrity at Waitangi Skate Park by Wellington City Council.
Hello to Everybody
has been published by Bad News books and is widely available.
To see examples of Sallie's work and the book go here
.