Sculpture to feature in Garden Place

A new site-specific sculpture has been approved for installation in Garden Place.

Approval for the artwork by Neil Miller was finalised by the City Planning and Development Committee on 29 March.

Standing 12m-high, the sculpture celebrates the concept of Pleiades/Matariki – its design is a representation of the Pleiades in the form of a growing vine, with the stars of Matariki forming the fruit on the vine. It honours the city’s first inhabitants (Garden Place was first used by Maori as a garden and observatory) and celebrates the horticultural heritage of the name ‘Garden Place’. The vine form also references the nearby Waikato River.

The sculpture will be accompanied by a small solstice ‘target’ which the sculpture’s shadow will strike during the winter solstice. These features link it to Hamilton’s sundial and the history of astronomical observations from Garden Place, and will mark the seasons with the track of its own shadow across the plaza.

Project curator Rob Garrett said the artwork will add to the energy and creativity of Garden Place.

“This sculpture will provide a striking feature in Garden Place that, as well as intriguing and engaging the public, will pay tribute to the first inhabitants of our city and the history of this space,” he said.

The sculpture is being fabricated in steel and aluminium, and is designed to the highest specifications which include anti-climb collars integrated into the flange designs.

The project will be completed in the second half of the year, with an exact completion date yet to be confirmed.

The total budget for this project is $110,000 (excl GST), with $100,000 having been allocated from the wider CityHeart budget. This is in accordance with Council’s recently endorsed percent for art scheme, whereby a minimum of 1% of the total capital project budget be allocated to a public art component to ensure that all significant city projects ‘create spaces, interactions and an aesthetic that inspires and motivates’.

About the artist:
Neil Miller trained under leading New Zealand sculptor Greer Twiss and graduated from Elam in 1988. He operated Enfield St studios for four years, establishing himself as a prolific and serious professional artist.

By 1993 he began lecturing in studio practice and gained a number of large-scale sculpture commissions, resulting in major works for Wrightson Bloodstock, the National Bank and Air New Zealand.

In 1996 he built a studio in West Auckland and concentrated on studio sculpture and exploring his core themes of geometries, structure, balance and joy.

In 2000 Miller was a founding member of the Auckland Outdoor Sculpture Society which developed the Auckland Domain Sculpture Trail.

Since 2000 he has worked with various city councils, architectural firms and museums to produce large-scale public works both in New Zealand and overseas. His work is represented in many major New Zealand collections.