Statue of Katherine Mansfield

Photo credit - NzSteve

“Woman of Words” stainless steel sculpture celebrates the life and legacy of the New Zealand Author Katherine Mansfield.

The innovative memorial was designed and sculpted by the renowned New Zealand sculptress Virginia King, who portrayed Mansfield as she wished the world to see her: “a writer first and woman after.”

King depicted Mansfield in a 3.4-meter tall female figure sculpture in mid-stride with arms outstretched and a partially obscured face concealing a second hidden mask. Every aspect of the statue has a reference to Mansfield. The face mask refers to her letter to Sylvia Payne; the gentle hands refer to her early years as a cellist.

The entire surface is laser-etched with hundreds of words and phrases from Mansfield’s journals, letters, and short story masterpieces.

After dusk, interior amber lights illuminate the sculpture and serve as a radiant beacon glimmering with silhouetted words, a striking symbol of Mansfield’s enduring voice and impact.

The sculpture was commissioned by the Wellington Sculpture Trust, Wellington City Council, and The Katherine Mansfield Society and unveiled in May 2013 by Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown.

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) was born and raised in a socially prominent family in Wellington. From a young age, she loved playing the cello and writing short stories; some got published in local magazines. Mansfield moved to London to attend Queen’s College in 1903 and focused on writing. Mansfield traveled across Europe, lived an unconventional and dramatic life, had relationships with men and women, and wrote and published her work.

Two major events in her life impacted her deeply: the death of her younger brother during WWI and the tuberculosis she contracted in 1917. During her last years, Mansfield traveled in Europe, tried unconventional healing methods, and never stopped writing.

She passed away in 1923 in France, only at 34 years old. Even though Mansfield requested to burn all her letters, journals, and unpublished work, her husband edited and published them.

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