I was commissioned by the Art in Public Places group to design a structure
to display a naval mine which washed onto the rocks in
New Plymouth in 1943, the year I was born.
I was pleased, and honoured, to be asked and designed this so passersby would see themselves reflected in the shiny stainless steel
collar and realise that the mealy-mouthed term 'collateral damage' means people just like them. Nice ordinary people out for a walk,
enjoying being alive, suddenly killed or maimed as a byproduct of someone else's war.
I was delighted that PACE Engineering in New Plymouth were able to make my sculpture exactly the way I'd hoped.
I regard this project as a high point in my life as well as my career. |