"Flegg was a working potter and art education lecturer ... at Te Whare Wananga o Waikato. With a diploma of design and an art teacher’s diploma from English Colleges he joined the staff of Hamilton Teachers’ College in 1968 where he became Head of Art.

‘Gothic 20’ is a move away from the artists medium of choice, pottery. As a founding member and tutor of the Hamilton Potters Workshop, for years he was heavily influential on the Waikato potting scene. Here within the university he even set up the original clay studio, which he used as part of his own practice as well as being beneficial to garnering interest in clay work with primary school students. Further afield he exhibited at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts in 1966 and 1967 and in 1983 was appointed as chairman of the Northern Regional arts council, a position he held until 1990.

So why the foray into cement sculpture? In truth little is actually known about this piece and Flegg’s intentions. It is a marked difference from his pottery which exhibited his interest in New Zealand geology. 'Gothic 20' hints at the gothic architectural design common in the 12th to 16th centuries in Western Europe and revived in the mid 18th to early 20th centuries globally."

Source: University of Waikato Art Collection