From Waiheke to Bondi

Chris Bailey's Bondi Points sculpture references his Maori heritage.

Auckland's Chris Bailey has won the 2014 Wallace Arts Trust New Zealand Sculptor Award.

The award, announced by Sculpture by the Sea in Bondi, gives Bailey $7000 to help transport his sculpture, Bondi Points, from Auckland to Sydney, and his travel costs to install the work on site.

The Wallace Arts Trust judging panel, which included Sir James Wallace, selected him on the basis of his concept artwork for Bondi Points.

Waiheke-based Bailey carves in hard stone, producing sculpture influenced by his Maori heritage.

Sculpture by the Sea, which opened on Thursday, is showing 109 sculptures by artists from Argentina, Australia, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and the US. Kiwi sculptors Hannah Kidd, Veronica Herber and Rebecca Rose are also showing works in the exhibition, which spans 2km of coastline from Bondi to Tamarama. It runs until November 9.

Bondi Points references Bailey's background in the traditional making of Maori stone blades and his interest in the indigenous forms used in Australia.

It is inspired by the 4500-year old-Aboriginal stone blades found on the northern end of Bondi Beach in 1899.