For the exhibition Picturing the Peninsula (21 April - 22 July 2007), this work was displayed with this label:

Stony Bay peak dominates the skyline behind the township of Akaroa and affords spectacular views of Akaroa Harbour and the Pacific Ocean from above Otanerito Bay and Stony Bay. Although representational McWhannell’s landscape of Stony Bay Peak is drawn from memory and the sense of wonder of the landscape he grew up in. His personal response to the region is intensified further with the inclusion of figures - ancestors from the past – “a resurrection and assumption on bony ground”.

Richard McWhannell was born in Akaroa and grew up in Takamatua. He has retained a deeply personal attachment to the region which continues as a source of inspiration in his art.