“The wall sculpture is made of Oregon timber and finished in gold leaf oil paint. It comprises two oars lying horizontally to create an embracing, calming quality suggestive of a horizon line. The motif on the blades is defined with pigmented powders and crushed eggshells.

“According to the artist the horizontal angle of the two oars was selected to avoid the totemic confrontational character of a vertical form inappropriate in an environment of mediation, argument and consultation. Positive values of dialogue, decision-making and reconciliation are the symbolic references to which the images allude.”

Source: Wellington High Court Artworks Catalogue (6-page typed and printed document produced by the High Court).

This work is one of a set of artworks commissioned for the Wellington Te Whanganui-a-Tara High Court in 1992 by an artworks panel consisting of members of the judiciary, the Department of Justice, the Māori community and the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council.