Life Force
This sculpture represents an idea of the soul. A person's moral or emotional nature, sense of identity; both internally in oneself and externally as part of one's community.
| Location | State Highway 1 at entrance to Carter Holt Harvey Kinleith Mill site |
| Materials | Tōtara, Mounted on concrete base with tall steel supports bolted to rear of pole |
| Created | 2004 |
| Artist | Kevin Smith |
| Definition of Name | Life Force - the force or influence that gives something its vitality or strength: the life force of the symphony |
| Definition Interpretation | The spirit or energy that animates living creatures; the soul. |
Materials
Tōtara can be found in both the North Island and the South Island, although it is mostly found in the Central North Island region, and in lowland reserves. The Tōtara tree can grow up to two and a half metres in diameter, with older and larger trees becoming hollow. The tree is identified by its dark brown trunk with bark that looks similar to paper strips coming away from the tree. The heartwood of Tōtara can be seen as a common brown reddish colour, the sapwood is a lighter shade of brown. Growth rings are present in the tree and are very distinctive as they are usually evenly spaced. The wood of the tree has a straight grain, which allows it to be easily split, the wood is also very fine and has an even texture that has an attractive finish.
Artist Notes
Kevin Smith is of Italian, Pākehā descent and has learnt traditional Māori carving.
Kevin Smith has been a part of a Poutama course, this involved participation in carving a new Wharenui for the Peria Marae in Northland. He also spent time in South Korea carving Totem poles. This was a protest against the destruction of a 20,000 hectare tidal flat that the New Zealand native bird the 'kuaka' feed at, on their migration to Siberia.
Kevin Smith is a specialist of mixed media sculpture, in particular, stone, bone and found native timbers. He has a passion and political stance towards road safety which extends into motifs used in his work.
