42 Steps

42 Steps, 2006 Sand cast bronze, stainless steel 3200 x 350 x 350 mm Rising in a slender, spiralling form, 42 Steps draws the eye upward, evoking the quiet ascent of a staircase reaching toward the sky. Composed of repeating cast bronze elements threaded around a central axis, the work reflects Richard Mathieson’s long-standing interest in the helix — a form that is at once structural, lyrical and seemingly without end. The diamond-patterned steps allow light to pass through at shifting intensities, creating a subtle play of shadow and movement as the viewer circles the work. Mathieson’s practice frequently explores modular repetition and the act of building through accumulation. Each step in 42 Steps was individually cast using a green sand moulding process, a method that allowed for both precision and variation. The work’s construction — a sequence of elements revolving around a central core — has been likened by the artist to threading a necklace, balancing technical discipline with an intuitive sense of form. The helix remains a central motif throughout Mathieson’s work — a shape that suggests growth, continuity and the passage of time. In 42 Steps, this spiralling structure becomes a quiet meditation on existence, carrying the viewer’s gaze upward in a continuous, unbroken motion. Reflecting on the work, Mathieson connects it to a whakataukī referenced in Witi Ihimaera’s memoir Māori Boy: “Te tōrino haere whakamau, whakamuri” — as the spiral moves forward, it also returns. This idea of simultaneous progression and return offers a meditation on time, existence and continuity, carried through the work’s endless upward movement.