Sculpture background

"I collect a lot of shells from all over New Zealand. I just looked into a little bit of the history of that area and I had been dabbling a little bit and playing around with concrete. It's something suggesting what was once there."

Jeff Thomson

In a departure from using corrugated iron as the medium for his sculpture Thomson used this material in the moulds for concrete models of seashells, which mark the former location of the foreshore prior to reclamation. moulded onto the outside are objects such as a cellphone and a builder's G-clamp that relate the site tot the present urban built environment.

Thomson is known nationally for his corrugated iron sculptures of familiar or iconic objects such as elephants, cows, kiwi or gumboots (Taihape). Thomson's best-known work is the Holden stationwagen reclad with recycled iron, on permanent display at Te Papa.