This memorial had a lot of wonderful input from the whanau involved. An outline of the design was given and my job was to flesh out the design in 3D.

 

I did a Ngutu Kaka design on the front of the whale tail. The Kaka eats plants and disperses seeds over the forest - a metaphor for attaining knowledge and passing it on - which represents her work in education and her love of children.

 

The back of the whale was left unadorned but a beautiful Puhoro design was provided on the base that I simply had to carve.

 

Brett Keno
New Zealand Stone Carving Artist and Sculptor
December 2015