ABOUT · MAKING OF SERIES · SOUL OF LIGHT
The making of Soul of Light
A figure carved from someone else's vision — and a void where the light gets in.
FORM
Figurative
OCCASION
Gift for a friend
PLACEMENT
Private home, Australia
STONE
Ōamaru limestone, hard grade
THE PROCESS
From sketch to completion
Click any image to view full size and move through the sequence.
THE STORY
“It’s always challenging producing a 3D sculpture from a 2D drawing. The eyes were the hardest part. You have to get them right.”
This piece began as a gift — the client had designed it herself, as something personal for a friend in Brisbane. She came to Brett with a drawing: an Asian woman, wearing a Māori fish hook pendant, with a void cut through the centre of the form. The hole was deliberate. It represented the light of her soul passing through.
The challenge Brett faced was not just technical — it was interpretive. Taking someone else's drawing and translating it into three dimensions means making hundreds of decisions the original sketch cannot answer. Where do the limbs sit in space? What proportion does the head hold? How does the hair fall when it has weight and depth rather than line?
The figure needed to be alluring and feminine. Her limbs were largely concealed by hair, which gave Brett some freedom — but also meant working out their three-dimensional position while staying true to what the client had drawn.
For the face, Brett requested particularly hard stone. Fine detail demands it. But hard stone introduces its own risks — unfossilised wood that shows as brown spots, compression lines running through the surface. Both appeared during carving. He was fortunate that the face remained clear. The facial features and head size changed many times before they were right. The eyes alone required several attempts.
ABOUT THE NAME
The name was the client's own. Soul of Light refers to the opening carved through the centre of the figure — not a flaw or absence, but a deliberate form. Light passes through it differently at different times of day, changing what you see. The idea was that the figure herself was the source: the light doesn't illuminate her, it comes from within her.
DESIGN ELEMENTS
The figure
An Asian woman, rendered in full — alluring, feminine, and three-dimensional from a two-dimensional brief. Every proportion resolved by hand.
THE MATERIAL
Ōamaru limestone is a soft, warm New Zealand stone — hand-carved, not machined. It weathers beautifully outdoors and holds fine detail with care.
Available for delivery locally or shipped professionally anywhere in New Zealand or internationally.
Hei matau pendant
A Māori fish hook worn at the figure's chest — a meeting point between cultures, chosen by the client as part of the original design.
The void
A hole through the centre of the form. Structural risk, deliberate choice — and the source of the piece's name. Light moves through it.
The hair
Flowing over and around the body, the hair resolved the limbs — covering what couldn't be fully shown, while giving the figure movement and grace.
The face
The most technically demanding element. Features and proportion revised many times. The eyes required several attempts before they held the right expression.
"The face changed many times. The eyes were important — they required several attempts. I was so lucky not to get any compression lines on the face."
BRETT KENO · SCULPTOR · NEW ZEALAND