Wellington depicted as “Zootopia” by a Chinese artist
Staff Writer: Wen Zhao
Image Source: supplied
To get away from the social pressure to get married, 33-year-old Mary Guo left China and painted a magical world in New Zealand.
There are various reasons why people move to New Zealand. For Mary Guo, she just couldn’t stand the mounting social pressure asking her to get married.
In 1981, Mary was born in Nanjing of east China’s Jiangsu Province. She loved drawing from very early on.
But, can one make a living with art?
To stand a better chance in the fiercely competitive job market, she majored in IT in university. It soon became clear she was not born a programmer.
Four years later, she realised that she had learned “next to nothing”.
And yet, the frustrated programmer created quite a few artworks.
At the end of her undergraduate years, the gaming industry entered a golden era in China.
Thanks to her deep interest in art, she became a gaming art designer. She worked her way from a small company in Nanjing to a transnational corporation in Shanghai as ten years flashed by.
“Others might find our work interesting and think we earn a living with creativity, but it’s mostly mechanical repetition,” said Guo. “By the time you finished designing 100 icons, they all started to look alike.”
Even though she was doing what she liked, such repetition day in day out wore her out. What almost pushed her to the brink was the growing pressure to get married.
“Getting married, having babies, buying a house and a car, having a stable job, it seemed everyone around me was heading for this single-planked bridge,” Mary recalled.
But, was this the only choice for her?
By the time Mary turned 30, the pressure was almost unbearable, all she wanted was to flee. But to where?
Her eyes fell on New Zealand, and she was immediately drawn by the last pure land at the end of the world.
In 2014, she resigned and came to Wellington to study. This time, she chose what she really loved, art.
What made her happier was the lack of conformity in life.
In the past, people around her droned on about car, house and money, now she has plenty of friends to talk about art.
Back home, everyone lectured her that a woman in her 30s must get married and have a child before it was too late; today, she never hears such talk of “one should do what’s suitable for each phase of life”. There is simply no standard measurement of success, be it career or family life.
In China, people in their 50s are considered old, and she didn’t find any “elderly” coworkers in her previous companies. Today, many of her colleagues could be called “grandpas” and “grannies” in China. It’s very common to see someone in their 60s picking up some extreme sports or falling in love.
New Zealand seems to have opened the gate to a brand new world for her.
“Why are the poor people all enjoying themselves so much here?” Mary wondered.
Mary mingles with a group of “poor” artists, whose regular jobs range from pole dancers to librarians or street musicians.
In their spare time, everyone is busy with some hobby: staging a small drama, making a documentary or preparing a talk show.
Mary worked as a volunteer at a church, providing food and support for the disadvantaged.
“All sorts of people come here, some with physical disabilities, others with mental illnesses, but they all look so happy.”
Especially impressive to her is the support given by kind-hearted people from every corner of the north and south islands.
After obtaining her Master’s degree, Mary has been working with an animation production company in Wellington. Her roles varied from art director to TV animation producer, and even amusement park designer. The company also facilitated her immigration process.
Nowadays she’s living a more relaxed life, no longer bothered by questions like “why are you still single”, which once almost drove her crazy.
Before she knew it, Mary found herself in love, and her gamophobia is cured. Leading such a simple, happy and fulfilled life, she begins to ponder what she can do for New Zealand?
She is good at drawing.
If there is a ranking of the world’s capitals with the least validation, Wellington of New Zealand could make the list.
Actually, Wellington is known for its cafes. The city’s number of cafes per capita even exceeds that of New York, and it’s hailed as one of eight sacred sites for coffee in the world.
Before she arrived in New Zealand, Mary never took a sip of coffee. She soon fell in love with the distinctive cafes in the nation’s capital.
Why not draw them?
Mary set up an Instagram account and began sharing her “Welly Cafe Memories”.
Midnight Espresso cafe
“This cafe is full of fond memories for me and it’s still my favourite. When I first came to Wellington, I had nowhere to go at night. Then I found this place to hang out with my friends, since it was the only cafe open until midnight.”
Caffe Mode
“Mittens is a feline influencer in Wellington. The cat was nominated ‘New Zealander of the Year’ alongside the Prime Minister. He often wanders in the capital, especially around Kelburn. So I drew him sipping coffee at Kelburn’s Caffe Mode.”
Ekor Bookshop & Cafe
“A cafe with so many books. The owner was obviously a bookworm. Unfortunately, the bookshop closed a few years ago.”
Enigma Cafe
“The Courtenay Place in Wellington is known for its restaurants and bars. This is the cafe I often visit. So I thought, on Halloween, when spirits and ghosts parade by, they might drop in for an ice cream.”
Gipsy Kitchen
“It’s a cafe near our company. It has all sorts of fascinating decorations and lovely cakes.”
Retrogrove
“A very small cafe on the Cuba Street. It’s just a tiny place, but it has lots of plants. The owner and I chatted about spiritual vibes and myths, and this drawing shows what I felt.”
Havana Coffee Works
“A very famous coffee roasting studio in Wellington with its own cafe, and they make their own chocolates, too. I often pass by this place on my way to work, I can smell the aroma of roasted coffee from the studio.”
Prefab
“This cafe has an open-style coffee roasting studio, you can sit by the bar to watch the whole thing. The barista seems to be manipulating some fine tools, and it reminds me of Steamboy, an animated steampunk film.”
Mary’s “Welly Cafe Memories” has created a large following. Every day, more than 4,000 fans eagerly await her updates on Instagram.
The cute protagonist in her drawings also melt many hearts. (Have you recognised her? Please drop a line in the comment area.)
What’s more interesting is that she had many surprising encounters thanks to her artistic talent.
She applied to a restaurant to be a dishwasher, but the owner hired her to design the menu, filled with her drawings on the front cover and inside pages.
The restaurant has changed hands, but Mary’s menu has stayed.
When she roamed the streets for inspiration, owners of stamp or tattoo shops asked her for designs.
What flattered Mary the most is that many cafe owners in Wellington have been following her on social media. They bought her artworks and invited her to display them at their cafes.
In 2020, she held a show at Deluxe cafe, attracting many online fans she never met before.
This March, she had her solo show at Black Coffee.
Wellington is the capital of coffee and art, and its diversified cafes have become an art in its own right.
Mary never dreamed that holding her solo art show could be so easy. Here in New Zealand, art is part of common people’s daily life.
From her drawings, we can catch glimpses of the unique local culture and lifestyle, many wonderfully weird ideas, and a warming, loving heart.
Mary said she plans to make a book of “Welly Cafe Memories”, so that those who love this small city as much as she does can introduce Welly to their friends and family from a different perspective.
Before immigrating to New Zealand, Mary thought life was a single-planked bridge. Today, she has found endless possibilities.
At the end, we’d like to treat everyone to a feast of the beautiful scenery in Wellington portrayed by Mary.
For more of Mary Guo’s artworks, visit her website at maryguo.com, or her Instagram account: totoroguo
All photos and drawings are supplied by Mary Guo unless credited otherwise.
