Have you seen this bird too?

A stone carving of tarāpuka, the black-billed gull. This endangered bird was one of many that nested near the Ashburton Bridge during the summer of 2023-24. On Christmas Day, I photographed one of the birds and then later created some lino-cut prints. And then from the lino-cut print, created the stone carving.

I made one print onto some reclaimed Oamaru stone and then using that image, carved this sculpture of the gull out of the stone.

I thought an alternative name for this sculpture could be Jonathan Limestone Seagull, but this species of gull does not appear to spend much time at sea. It prefers to nest on the braided rivers, but if there is a danger of flooding, they have been known to rest on farmland instead.

This work is being exhibited in the Ashburton Society of Arts 60th Annual Exhibition at the Ashburton Art Gallery from 1-26 July 2024.