Regan Tamanui (aka Ha Ha) is Australia's foremost stencil artist. Originally from New Zealand, Regan first came to Australia in 1996 and, not long after arriving, paid twenty bucks for a surfing lesson in Torquay. Despite trying all afternoon, he only managed to get to his knees. Regan was sore for days afterward and hasn't been back surfing since.

This year he entered a portrait of Mark Occhilupo in the Archibald Prize.

Stuart Nettle: Why Occy? How did you learn about him?

Regan Tamanui: Occy is like an australian icon, the great aussie battler. I read his book 'Occy', I like the part where he was on a motorbike and hit a car and flew over the top and landed on his feet. It's a really good read. I laughed my way through the book.

Anyway, my friend Sheepy [Swellnet webcast producer Matt Davis] rocked over once and saw me reading the book and suggested I do Occy for the Archibald. It all went from there. Sheepy knows heaps of people, he even hooked up a guy called Ben Ey to photograph Occy.

SN: I once heard Tim Baker [author of Occy's book] say of Occy: 'One day he looks like a Greek God the next a Greek fruiterer'. Were there any particular attributes that you tried to capture when painting him?

RT: I thought about who Occy was. I went and watched the Occumentary. I imagined him to be a mythological hero of the people, kind of like a funny or happy-go-lucky demigod. He had a t-shirt on in the original photo with a Billabong logo so I took it off and used an image that resembles the Sea Shepherd logo.

I'm not really into corporate logos as I see them as ownership of a person and I don't really see Occy as owned by a multi-national corporation. It's like when you go to a footy game and all the players run out with uniforms covered with corporate logos and it presents a question: who really is the sport hero?

So I used elements of mythology as a logo on Occy's t-shirt. It looks like the Sea Shepherd logo but those very symbols have been used for thousands of years to denote or symbolise aspects of the human psyche. For example, the 'trident' is the representation of Neptune, god of the ocean, protector of the sea. Occy can be likened to a god of the ocean, able to master the waves and tame the ocean.

Also the 'hooked sceptre' represents a rite of passage. For example, the pharaohs had sceptres as a right to rule and govern, the queen has a sceptre which she holds under her left arm, the pope uses the sceptre as a right to rule. A proven champion of the world, just like Occy, comes back to prove his right to rule the waves by becoming champion of the world.

The skull represents a 'do or die' element to life. To achieve the impossible or die trying. In the portrait Occy has a cheeky grin on his face as if he's laughing at fame and success, as if it was nothing important.

SN: You're a stencil artist. Traditional stencil work usually contains block colours, is quite literal, and to my eyes, emotionally cold, yet you're known for using lots of colour: how did this come about?

RT: Yeah, I started stencils around 2000. I saw heaps of stencils around Melbourne on the streets and totally got into it. But as the years progressed so did my stencil technique, so the one layer stencil became three layers then ten layers till I got to the point where I was doing up to 50 - 60 layers. It took me a number of years to master this technique.

SN: How many stencils did you use for the Occy portrait?

RT: The portrait has 42 layers. The hardest part was cutting the layers for his hair. There's like six layers in his hair.

SN: Were there other stencil artists in the Archibald?

RT: Nah, none...

SN: Does the Archibald have much importance for you?

RT: Not really. It does in the sense that it improves one's standing in the art world. It just gives the winner more cred as an artist.

SN: Gonna enter again?

RT: Yes, I'm thinking of doing Andrew from that band 'Wolfmother'.

SN: Much of your art features Australian icons - symbols and celebrities: what's your relationship with pop culture icons?

Australian popular culture is something I've been working on for a few years. I find the cult of personality interesting. I'm interested in the here and now of Aussie culture, especially the idea of the sporting nation, glorified criminals, the aussie battlers, role models...what makes the celebrity who they are today and what makes the legend tomorrow?

I like dealing with current issues in the media, that people can relate to and identify with in Australian culture. I'm like a visual interpreter of I how I see the world around me. I'm also interested in corporate takeover of the individuals freedom of thought.

SN: Are you finding that your style is in demand?

RT: It is definitely in demand. Theres a guy called 'Blek le Rat', he's like the Godfather of stencils from France, he had an exhibition in Melbourne late last year. He had one - two layer stencils which sold for up to $60,000 a piece which I thought was quite impressive. I wish I could make that type of cash. I recently sold two large prints to the National Gallery of Australia for $900 each. I was quite impressed with that but it will probably go on bills and beer.

SN: Who's buying your art?

RT: Lots of professional couples who are in the IT industry, graphic designers, architects. People contact me via email mainly from the UK as well. I don't really know what they do.

Regan has an exhibition in Brisbane beginning July 30th at Edwina Corlette Gallery. For further details, and to check his work, go to www.regantamanui.com // STUART NETTLE