Nelson-based sculptor Andy Waugh has been carving for over 40 years in timber, stone and bone, but his most enduring material of choice is river stone.  Andy has a lifelong passion for Māori and Pacifica art forms and our unique New Zealand environment, and has worked alongside well-respected Tohunga Whakairo. This blend of influences is prevalent in his contemporary sculptural work. 

 All of the stone Andy works with is hand sourced locally, their shape refined by thousands of years of movement through mountains, valleys and rivers, gifted by Papatūānuku and Tangaroa. 

“Nelson is well known for the many varieties of local Kōhatu/Riverstone, I choose and remove each stone with the utmost respect and always offer a Karakia as thanks. I am truly in my happy place in my local environment, fossicking in the rivers and mountains finding ancient and unique objects of nature. It is a privilege to reveal the beauty within each Kōhatu and create a sculpture retaining the mauri of the stone”. – Andy Waugh