A garden to share

By JANET HUNT

From his position on the eastern flank of the hill he looks west through a lei of flax, its pointed black seeds an angular cross-hatch and counterpoint to his solemn bulk. He is reminiscent of an Easter Island head, yet more than any other sculptures in the park, he belongs, for his roots go deep into the earth. He is The Guardian of the Planting (1999) by Fatu Feu'u, bringer of peace and stern protector of a revegetating valley of ti, puriri and kanuka.

He looks across a small lake to Chris Booth's elegant Silent Columns while high on the hill across the gully, Neil Dawson's crane-like Other People's Houses is a red-and-white-steel antithesis to his oiled-wood, traditional presence.

It began with a love of art and a growing collection of sculpture by major artists. In 1993 Jo and John Gow (not of the Gow Langsford Gallery) bought land on the southeastern coast of Waiheke and began to create what was to become the Connells Bay Sculpture Park. Long-time collectors, they initially sought empty land but found instead Connells Bay, a 24ha property split in two by a ridge and a road.

The southern portion falls steeply (4WD only) to a valley which is itself divided in two. At the bottom, metres from the water, is a small cluster of buildings - a homestead, cottages, sheds and a jetty. It had been a sea-access-only trading post with a shop, dairy, post office and fuel depot for 80 years from the late 1800s. It was perfect for their needs.

When the Gows took possession, much of the slip-prone landscape was in grass, although there are superb stands of native bush in the deepest gullies. Old macrocarpas, relics of a time which is gone, dotted the hills. The macrocarpas were removed, their timber used for seating at vantage points around the property, and planting began.

"Our first commitment was to revegetate," John Gow says. "And as we were planting, we started creating what we call rooms, spaces in the trees or in the bare paddocks where we would commission or purchase an artwork.

"The collection, which is approximately half-and-half commissioned for specific sites and purchased elsewhere, is constantly evolving: what might initially be an ideal setting for a work can change because of environmental factors - conservation of the works is always paramount - or because a new addition alters the spatial dynamics, calling for rearrangement of existing pieces."

The Guardian of the Planting will never be moved, however. Initially, Fatu Feu'u was working on Waka, a trademark vertical canoe in macrocarpa, but he was inspired by the huge tree stump, and the giant head emerged to become a powerful presence on the hillside.

The park, which contains a mix of works in differing scale and media, is viewed on a guided walk along a clay track leading from the bottom of the valley up the hill, past a small lake, looping to a conclusion at Christine Hellyar's Nikau Urn above the homestead. Large works, such as the Feu'u or the Dawson, are counterbalanced by smaller, no less exciting pieces such as Bob Stewart's The Dark One, a greenstone and andesite form beside the lake, Paul Dibble's spectacular bronzes, Huia Feather and Between Islands, and Dave McCracken's Reeds. There are others, 20 in all, and more to be installed in the coming months. Just as the planting is a commitment to New Zealand natives, so the sculptures are by New Zealand artists only.

The park was originally planned as a private collection, but the Gows opened it to the public - by appointment only, over the summer months - in response to gentle pressure from friends.

"People started to ask, 'Who are you going to share it with? What are you going to do with it?"' says Jo Gow. "We decided we would share it with people who are interested in sculpture."

Connells Bay