Howard Tuffery
This sculpture was donated by New Plymouth resident Nancy Mills to honour her late parents, Ernie and Rosemary Ralph of San Jose, California. It was installed on the New Plymouth Coastal Walkway, near Tasman Towers, in December 2016.
An admirer of the work of Howard Tuffery, Mrs Mills commissioned him to create a design that would have a Taranaki theme and fit in with the surrounding landscape.
Made from stainless steel the work is around 6 metres in length with a height of 2.7 metres and depth of up to 2.5 metres. Tuffery says the work is an expression of his surroundings, representing the mountain, familiar hills or lahars, and suggestions of flowing rivers or surf.
It references issues of conservation and sustainability, and the need to look to new ways of thinking about guardianship and land use, and represents a departure from the his usual media of wood and stone.
The work cost over $100,000, and was gifted to the district through the New Plymouth District Council and the New Plymouth Art in Public Places Trust.
