It is not your normal garden gnome. In fact, it's a 9¬metre-tall gnome welcoming motorists on Melbourne's Peninsula Link freeway created by the same Kiwi sculptor behind the Auckland art work that many thought looked like a penis.
The gnome, made of polished stainless steel in Gregor Kregar's studio and factory in West Auckland was unveiled yesterday as part of the Southern Way McClelland Commission ¬ one of 14 public art works worth $4 million to be commissioned for the road over 25 years.
![The $200,000 Transit Cloud sculpture was ridiculed for looking like male genitals. Photo / Nick Reed](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/43HHSZNQOSYPFCZRNBAATGMBME.jpg?auth=9e6b828cc08548695b90910cc61e9caadfa764bedfd2b250b78fff15da6c465b&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
The shining beacon, Reflective Lullaby, was shipped from Auckland and trucked to its new home before being lifted into position by a crane.
Speaking from Melbourne today, Kregar told the Herald he had done a number of works based on the gnome, but the Melbourne work was by far the largest.
"I'm really interested in the idea that I can take something like a gnome which is almost like a symbol for bad taste and kitsch and try to make it into an interesting monument. The larger you go with it the better it works," he said.