Modern designs from ancient rock
A section of New Plymouth’s foreshore resembles a noisy, dusty construction site as a group of stone sculptors chip and grind a pile of prehistoric rock into creatively designed shapes.
The 14th biennial Te Kupenga International Stone Symposium on the city’s Coastal Walkway has attracted 27 stone sculptors, including six carvers from South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and Belgium.
Well known stone carvers Howard Tuffery, Steve Molloy and Bhodi Vincent are also involved.
Hundreds of people a day can watch the progress of the rocks gradually change shape during the next fortnight.
Each carver using grinders, chisels and hammers works to an unique design plan to shape the hard andesite rock into sharp points, curves, and small spheres, coordinator, and stone carver Andrea Connor said.
Once the hard rock is shaped it is polished to bring out the multitude of features, Connor said.
A broad range of different colours, from pink to black to sparkly, appear when the design is completed, she said.
‘‘The rock gives a wonderful shine when it has been polished.’’
The physical work sees the carvers spending up to 8-9 hours a day for three weeks shaping the rock, she said.
Connor said her design would resemble a ‘‘vaguely feminine form with a wavy thing going on.’’
‘‘Most of us work off some kind of plan but it can change as you start to chip away at the rock.’’
The first three days of the symposium is usually the noisiest as carvers grind off rough edges and start to shape the rock, she said.
Perth-based carver Jina Lee said her design was shaped to resemble round balls or atoms.
‘‘All life on earth is connected to atoms, and I have included a wave shape to show the energy.’’
The rock will be polished to a black and white colour, she said.
It was the first time Lee had worked with andesite.
‘‘It’s very hard but good to work with as it is not too soft.’’
Taiwanese carver Li-Jen Lin had chosen a design to depict his life history.
‘‘This is the philosophy of my life before I became a stone carver,’’ he said.
The symposium, sponsored by Taranaki businesses and the district council, is scheduled to finish on January 19 and the individual designs will be auctioned on site on January 26 with proceeds shared between the carvers, and also to fund the next event in 2020.