The Kiss

Sculpture x Sea, Aarhus Denmark — 2015

Carved from a stone with origins as solidified magma from the Earth's core, a modern text message (x) multiples into a monumental love-mark. Inspired by primitive markings found in Palaeolithic caves, The Kiss imprints universal human DNA, the chromosome X, on the land. Like a magnetic field, people are drawn into the folds of the sculpture, enchanted by the plays of light, brilliant reflections, abstract composition, and maze-like form. Its method of construction enacts a kiss – the twin granite panels interlock and are separated by a sliver of air: the breath in a kiss. This coupling creates an abstract figure that celebrates connectivity while enabling freedom of movement, unlike The Kiss as visualised by Rodin, Brancusi, Munch and Klimt. Presented in Denmark at the centenary of women's right to vote, The Kiss proposes equal partnerships.

Four tonnes of outsized pure black granite was specially quarried in India and shipped to New Zealand where the sculpture was made using time-honoured and high tech stone-working techniques. The Kiss was then sent to Denmark and assembled by the artist on a remote beach in Aarhus Bay before returning to Aotearoa in 2016 for public display on the hallowed grounds of  Christ's College, a private boy's school in Christchurch NZ.