Nucleus, Phil Price

At 9m high Nucleus has an impressive presence on the corner of High, Manchester and Lichfield Streets; visually prominent to both pedestrian and motorized traffic. The sculpture was unveiled to the public on 29 September 2006 and formally gifted to the city at the duration of SCAPE 2006.

Phil Price has an impressive artistic pedigree, with work featuring widely across the Tasman in private collections as well as in New Zealand. Since graduating in 1989 from the University of Canterbury, School of Fine Arts he has exhibited regularly, featuring in both New Zealand’s national survey shows, Prospect 2001 and Prospect 2004, City Gallery, Wellington.

He has shown enormous dedication and enthusiasm for creating public sculptures, winning the ‘Meridian Energy Great Wellington Wind Sculpture Project’ with Zephyrometer in 2003, now located in Wellington’s Evan’s Bay. Other significant works include, Cytoplasm in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour and Protoplasm, Wellington. Dancer, and Scribble feature in private collections at the ‘Connell’s Bay Sculpture Park’, Waiheke Island and Sir Miles Warren’s ‘Ohinetahi’, Governors Bay.

“Nucleus: the positively charged centre of an atom. Christchurch was my place of study and remains the centre of my practice. So this title and the sculpture have a special significance for me. The artwork is a celebration of place. The simple singular form made of four equal parts are a reflection of Christchurch, with its well planned and laid out built environment. All the parts are connected and necessary for the whole to function. The plinth, with its exposed structure and beauty through function is a celebration of Christchurch’s engineering and industrial base.”

Phil Price