Life Force: Fire (2026) is a sculptural work by New Zealand artist John Allen. A pōhutukawa root from a fallen tree in Northland rises from a carved volcanic rock from Auckland. The rock has been shaped to receive the wood — carved to hold and embrace the root, reversing the natural order in which roots grow around and are shaped by stone.
The Life Force works speak to the unseen energy that animates all living things — the deep pulse that unites the visible and invisible, the personal and the universal. It is both what gives form and what moves through it. When a sculpture carries life force well, it creates a subtle but powerful exchange: of presence, aliveness, form and flow as one, simplicity and inner calm.
Fire is present here in the root’s upward movement: its branching lines rise, divide, and find their own paths, like flames. The carved volcanic rock gives those lively forms a deliberate base, shaped to receive and hold the root. Wood and stone meet in a tension between movement and stillness, with the root’s energy drawing the eye upward.
Finished with natural oil and wax.
Specifications:
Title: Life Force: Fire (2026)
Artist: John Allen
Materials: Pōhutukawa root (Northland), carved volcanic rock (Auckland)
