‘Lost & Found’ was commissioned by Auckland Council as part of the re-designed Mayoral Drive end of Federal Street. The redesign aims to reinvigorate Federal Street to serve as a high-quality pedestrian route parallel to Queen Street, connecting midtown with the shoreline.

The new shared space at the Mayoral Drive end of Federal Street opened in July 2022 with enhanced lighting, 13 new native trees and nine rain gardens filtering stormwater before it reaches the waterways. ‘Lost & Found’ is the final stage of this street upgrade.

On the upper plane of each boulder everyday belongings can be seen carved with intricate detail. The woven thread of shoelaces can be seen in a pair of sneakers. Other objects include a baseball cap, puffer jacket, sunglasses, gloves and a backpack — all rendered in a smooth satin finish.

The carved objects are a metaphor to support a greater sense of community for residents in this street.

Sheehan says: “The belongings are a kind of figurative work that extends through the street. The two gloves are at each end and hold the space, the jacket lies under St Matthew’s as a cruciform echo of the figure on the cross, the shoes are found at the door of the Auckland City Mission — Te Tāpui Atawhai. “Each part interacts with different aspects of the street,” he says.

This quieter end of Federal Street has become a backyard for residents of the street’s apartment towers, commuters on bikes and scooters, walkers and the congregation of St Matthew-in-the-City. The street has significance to many of the city’s street whānau also, particularly people supported by the Mission.

“This street has a special dynamic. It is a place of unique social confluence. I had a sense that people were living in very different worlds, and I wanted this artwork to help bring those worlds closer together. My hope was that these carvings would work as touchstones and operate as a kind of connective tissue between people,” says Sheehan.

Waitematā Local Board Chair Genevieve Sage says public art is vital in our city as it pushes us to appreciate a new way of thinking, discovering and honouring our past and present.

“I want to say how much we appreciate Joe Sheehan and this new work. Through Joe’s extraordinary skill and creative exploration we see a space where contemporary artwork meets early geological formations which join to tell a story. The artwork is inviting us to see and touch and experience it in a contemporary way,” she says.   

The artist sourced the boulders from a variety of locations throughout New Zealand, helping people who originate from other places in New Zealand find a grounding here. The eight ancient, “deep time” boulders weigh between one and four tonnes each.

Sheehan’s process begins with a six-foot saw and finishes with a 1mm diamond drill to define, for example, the ridged soles of the shoes and the seams of the jacket.

The artist has also designed a series of large sculptural lamps to illuminate each relief-carved object, while leaving the balance of the rock in relative darkness. This element will be formally unveiled in April, and at that time the art works will be complete.    

Joe Sheehan wants people to touch the carved belongings, developing a patina over time and says: “These works are designed to be touched and through that physical contact the public will, literally, finish the artwork.”

Auckland Council Public Art Project Manager Terry Urbahn who will see this project to its conclusion in April says: “The ambition of Lost & Found was to create richly detailed and illuminated moments, encouraging discoverability over time and a sense of social warmth and welcome. We are thrilled to have realised this ambition.”

To learn more about the artist visit www.timmelville.com/artist/joe-sheehan/

Stone types used and sources are: 

• Backpack - Takaka Marble
• Right hand glove - Coromandel Granite
• Jacket - Tihaka Pakohe (Argillite)
• Pair of sneakers - Tihaka Pakohe (Argillite)
• Left hand glove - Greenhills Basalt
• Cap - Greenhills Basalt (banded)
• Glasses - Tihaka Pakohe (Argillite)