Meet The Team

DEOW is the creative mind and main man behind South Sea Spray. He is a born and raised Southlander, with a passion for street art and surfing. His personal artworks consist mostly of aerosol paint and his art portrays figurative characters and portraits merged with the fundamental elements of his graffiti style and are described as an expression of his Kiwi roots. His vision for South Sea Spray is to fill Southland with quality, high impact public art for all to enjoy and draw inspiration from. 

Pauline our Board Chair is a born and bred Southlander. She is of Samoan, Scottish and Irish decent and has a background in arts and culture and education.  Based at beautiful Aparima with hubby Geoff they have two daughters,  five grandies and a cat called Marvin.

Dr. Bobby ‘Berst’ Hung is a graffiti artist from Hong Kong and lives in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aoteaora. He started painting graffiti in 2002 with a focus on lettering styles, colour, and abstraction. For Berst, graffiti is a unique visual language, ephemeral art form, and medium for contesting public space. Parallel the lettering, inspiration is also sought from comic book illustrations, tattoos, patterns, and his childhood cartoons. Intersecting with his artistic practice, Berst has a PhD in Education and holds the position of Academic Programme Manager and Senior Lecturer at Unitec Institute of Technology (Te Pūkenga) in Art and Design. As an educator, he is passionate about visual arts education and supporting the next generation of artists and designers into creative careers, especially within the context of public art and placemaking. 

Lauren Quinlivan is our secretary and arts curator for our exhibitions. She is originally from Southern California but has lived in Southland for 8 years now. She has a background in visual design, graphic design, visual communications, and fashion merchandising. Lauren is a proud girl mum, owns and runs a yoga, pilates, and wellness centre called SOUL SPACE located in Otatara and is working towards her graduate diploma in education. She has a passion for art history, travel, street art, wellness, interior design, and fashion. 

​Trudy Burdon is a proud born and raised Southlander of Dutch and Māori (Ngati Porou) descent. Trudy has a Bachelor of Education and Diploma of Teaching from Otago and has 25 years experience in education. Trudy is also a part time visual artist, who is inspired by community, whānau, identity, nature and connection.