Matthew Johnson

Matthew is a stonemason at Rookwood General Cemetery. He has have been practising stonemasonry for 17 years, 12 of which has been at Rookwood General Cemetery undertaking monument conservation. Matthew has completed a Masters of Heritage Conservation from the Sydney University focusing on material conservation theory and techniques

Some notable works include Sydney Harbour Bridge, Hyde Park Barracks, St Matthews Anglican Church and Cemtery.

Follow Matthew on Instagram: @mattgj

About the work

During my stint as a monumental stonemason, I have spent a significant amount of time working around churches and never inside them! This carving competition gave me the opportunity to finally carve an element from inside a church and I have chosen the central walkway called the Nave.

Given the small nature of the stone provided I decided to design a miniature Nave with three simple columns and semi-circular archways. This project has been quite challenging due to the restricted space between columns and central archway, it also challenged my ability to scale down a large object, yet still be visually pleasing.