Permanent Sculpture Trail Preview

Manu Torino makes a welcoming statement and highlights the vital relationship between birds and gardens. The bird theme also reflects the Gardens' location in Auckland. Manurewa is translated literally as 'flying birds'. 5m high, containing about 100 birds and the name translates as 'spiralling birds'.

* Engineer - Rex Ericson

To the left of the Huakaiwaka Visitor Centre entrance, three stylised forms in the shape of our iconic native Nikau Palm double as a water feature. The palms mirror the three nikau growing on the opposite side of the entrance way.

The concept by Maui 'Atalanga 'Ofamo'oni was realised by Clevedon scupture James Wright.

Bronze
2500mm x 1020mm x 1020mm

Object of Devotion

A mere leaflet of an imaginary branch of the tanekaha tree, a member of the conifer family. For the artist, this 2.5metre high bronze sculpture gives a feeling of humility knowing he is a tiny being, with only a fraction of the tree’s age, experience, strength and worth.

As described by the artist Jim Wheeler... Here we see an impossibly large leaflet from an unimaginably giant tree! With this sculpture I am attempting to give viewers the feeling I get when I stand below a huge, fully grown tree. At the foot of such ancient strength and longevity I understand the infancy of my human experience. At that moment it seems obvious how we need to adopt wisdom as a core value within our culture. Knowing the interdependence of the environment and people, then acting accordingly, is surely a future goal worth pursuing.

Object of Devotion was selected for the 2011/12 Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition - and was purchased by the Friends of the Auckland Botanic Gardens to join our permanent collection.

Cast bronze
2.2m

Butterfly

Inspired by the movements of a dancer, sculptor Llew Summers created 'Butterfly' - a playful figure reflecting the wing-like position of a dancers arms, and her consequent sense of flight.

Christchurch artist Llew Summers has exhibited widely since 1971. He is an intuitive artist who strives to make works which are life-enhancing, enriching, seductive and beautiful. Selected for the inaugural Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition in 2007, Butterfly is now a much loved part of our permanent collection.

Turn visually lures visitors from the visitor centre down the Pohutukawa Walkway. It then becomes a spring, feeding the nearby stream through an eel-filled rill and leading visitors into the Threatened Native Plant Garden.

Turn is dedicated to the memory of George Rainey, one of the Garden's greatest supporters.

Jane says her work is a celebration of heart and mind...

She uses forms in her work that resonate, both natural and manmade. Often common or from childhood, sometimes delicate and fleeting objects from nature, sometimes robust geometric forms from popular culture and industry.

Specific themes in Jane's work include colonisation, security and shelter along with more abstract themes commenting on the human condition, challenging preconceptions of purpose and beauty, valuable and lowly, masculine and feminine, permanence and the ephemeral. These dichotomies are also reflected in her use of recycled, found and industrial materials.

John Edgar ONZM, was a gardener aware of the physical and symbolic importance of water in a garden and hence explored this theme when he made the sculpture for the 2017- 18 Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition. John noted "bowls that hold water have many important roles in the rituals of libation, cleansing and christening - acts that refresh, revitalise and renew body and spirit". John was a self-taught artist who enjoyed working with stone. He naturally formed strong connections with the environment taking care to select the stone he worked with.

Font was selected as the acquisition piece to remain in the permanent collection at the Auckland Botanic Gardens and was relocated to the Edible Garden.

Macrocarpa, totara
4000mm

Waka

Waka is approximately 4 metres long and sits around 2.8 metres above the ground.

Waka is the gateway into the Threatened Native Plant Garden and references an ancient totara tree growing nearby - acknowledging the totara's mana. The main body of Waka is made of macrocarpa, with salvaged totara legs.

Carved wood, painted steel, bronze
2400mm x 600mm x 600mm

Tuna

The long and slender Anguilla dieffenbachii is New Zealand's only endemic freshwater eel and, as a species gradually declining in numbers, is under threat of being lost forever. Christchurch artist Bing Dawe has explored aspects of the longfin eel (or tuna, as it is known to Māori) for many years.

Tuna was in the 2013/14 Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition. It was purchased for the Gardens by the Friends of the Auckland Botanic Gardens following the exhibition.

Thieves go eeling in the gardens...

In 2014, Tuna was stolen from this spot - retrieved within days with the help of local scrap metal dealers. The thieves damaged the sculpture, carving it in two - in the (false) hope it was solid bronze. The recovered sculpture was sent to Bing in Christchurch for repair, before being reinstalled here in its rightful place.

The Web

Artist Fred Graham worked with engineer Rex Erikson to create this work which looks spectacular covered in early morning dew. Purchased for the Gardens as a birthday gift from the Friends, The Web, was inspired by the poem by Don McDonald:

"I know a man
Who - raving on 'the view'
Broke with his clumsy feet
A spiderweb
Starry with dew"

Galvanised powder-coated steel blades - 2500mm x 50mm
Cast glass - 60mm x 60mm x 50mm

Caught in the Act of Losing You - Sporadanthus ferrugineus (2009)

Positioning her work in the Threatened Native Plant Garden, Colleen Ryan-Priest aims to open up a view to a hidden world. Paying homage to Sporadanthus ferrugineus, the giant cane rush, the eleven blades of steel and cast glass boldly celebrate what the artist sees as a botanical icon of New Zealand.

This work featured in the 2009/10 Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition.

101 galvanised shovels, monel rivets, galvanised screws and pipes
3500mm x 3500mm x 2500mm

Splayed

Where else would you expect to find 101 shovels, but in a botanic garden!

Splayed is a collection of ordinary gardenvariety spades arranged to form an extraordinary botanical specimen. The wooden handles of the shovels create the illusion of a bloom, whilst the blades form the fl ower head with a geometric symmetry so often seen in nature. The silvery galvanised hue gives a futuristic slant to the sculpture.

Auckland artist Regan Gentry likes using materials that are familiar and well-used in day-to-day life. ‘As a sculptor my artistic practice typically depicts the relationship of people to their environment and how this is acted out. Using a wide range of materials and situations my work is characterised by a playful musing and using of material, language, location and structure.

Entwined was selected from the 2020-21 Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition by the Friends of Auckland Botanic Gardens to remain in the permanent collection

The flamboyant tangle of large leaved plants depict human endeavours to control nature. This large steel work is painted with a product containing copper filings, producing an intriguing patina.

Chris Moore has been a full time designer and artist for over 20 years. Originally focusing on oil painting and portraiture, he later moved his attention to metalwork, completing an apprenticeship in traditional blacksmithing in Europe and then training in Bronze casting using the “lost wax” method.

After returning to New Zealand in 2003 Moore established his studio in Oratia and has since been creating and exhibiting his work in both painting, as well as forged steel, bronze, stainless steel and wrought iron. He has shown his work in 3 Sculpture in the Gardens exhibitions.

2011-2012 - Gateway

2015-16 - Bird Songs

2019-20 - Entwined (Friends Acquisition)

Awhi Rito

Family. Balance. Harmony.

Awhi Rito is a symbol of the harmony within a family and a group of people. Three pieces are sited a short distance from each other within the palm garden. Each of the three pieces is individual - just as individuals make up a family, a group and a society and, although different, each shares the same symbol: the symbol for people.

Jeff Thomson has always been a maker of objects - using whatever materials he could find. Topiary was one of three birds he made for the Stoneleigh Sculpture in the Gardens 2007-8. Using corrugated iron and paint he mimicked the graceful forms of traditional garden topiary. It is a signature Thomson transformation of this lowly material into high art - with a masterly flourish and a good humoured wink.

Fantail returned to the Gardens in 2021 and is positioned fittingly amidst the urban Trees.

Cast bronze

Rose Cathedral

Cathedral was designed to complement the rose gardens existing arches and organic shapes, reflecting but not mimicking them; as with the garden itself, half of Cathedral’s elements are organic and half formal.

Brick
500mm x 1400mm x 500mm and 500mm x 600mm x 500mm

Curmudgeon Suite

Peter Lange requested that Curmudgeon Suite be situated 'anywhere where folk can sit and enjoy the view'. The contemporary New Zealand Rose Garden provides just that - a tranquil and unique setting for this three piece suite, and a place where grumpy old men ('pshaw, tut tut') might take a rest whilst their companions smell the roses.

Curmudgeon Suite was donated to the Gardens by a family with a long history of volunteering here.

Corten steel
7 variable pieces - 1500mm - 6000mm

Ratiti Mya

Millions of years ago in Gondwana, flightless birds roamed. Among them were the ratites to which our moa and kiwi are related. The Gondwana collection at the Gardens today inspired James to create a large body of visual work. Change is constant in this installation; seven forms evolving and defining themselves allow many interpretations. Ratiti Mya has a large visual footprint to draw and engage the viewers but has only a delicate one in reality.

Ratiti Mya was acquired by the Friends of the Auckland Botanic Gardens during the 2015/16 Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition.

Sand cast silicone bronze
100mm x 150mm x 1000mm

Seek

Seek uses three universal ancient symbols and creates an optical convergence. The square is the earth, with its four cardinal points; the circle is the divine, the sun and infinity; and triangles symbolise the past, present and future or spirit, mind and body.

Since 1970, Hungarian born Szirmay has staged 36 sole exhibitions as well as numerous international group exhibition including the 2015/16 Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition where Seek was awarded the Friends Acquisition. When receiving her award, Szirmay said “my wish to live in the Gardens has come true".

Friend or Foe

Located in the bog habitat of the Potter Children's Garden, Friend or Foe is a friendly reminder that you are being watched... best that you behave, or else.

Frangipani pebble mosaic - 2m

The tropical frangipani flower inspired this mosaic. It conveys the multitude of flowers produced by this iconic South Pacific plant, and relates perfectly to the nearby tropical habitat in the Potter Children's Garden.

John (a former professional tennis player!) says this mosaic portrays joyfullness of Frangipanis, the most famous flower of South Pacific.

The Boy, Kauri and Kereru - Corten steel.

This sculpture depicts a boy delicately balancing decisions about the environment and represents the next generation looking after our endagered species.

[Big Bird] Egg Chair - Bronze, 1270mm x 570mm x 180mm.

Samantha Lissette's work celebrates the coexistence of birds, blooms and bronze; each important elements of the Gardens. Inspired by the ovoid shell-like seat of an Eames chair, which reminded her of a bird, Lissette imagined an actual bird chair.

"Gulls and ducks are an important ever-present part of the Gardens. With this site-specific sculpture, I have striven to achieve a work which cleanly delivers form and function, equally bird and chair."

Camp site - boat & tent - Brick and tile, 0.6m and 1m.

Renowned Auckland sculpture and potter Peter Lange was awarded the Friends Acquisition for Camp Site at the inaugural Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition in 2007/08.

The campsite is set on the lake side - with a brick boat waiting to take to the water and a small tent beside it to shelter the boatie (or the visitor) should the weather turn bad.

Bird Lady - Mild steel, galvanised and powder coated steel, totara, 2000mm x 1200mm x 1200mm.

Jamie Pickernell was blown away by how many people use and visit the Gardens. He wanted to make something that was instantly accessible to people and that all ages could relate to and interact with on a very basic level.

‘You can sit next to the bird lady, share her park bench. I know it sounds corny but yes, take a picture of you and her. She’s us! People from the land of the birds.’

Pickernell is tipping his hat to Bill Hammond, renowned painter of magical birds, and requested Bird Lady be close to New Zealand fl ora and fauna. Where she, and the dangerous air that belies her calm repose, belongs.