So, rather than a physical sculpture for the Peter Nicholls sculpture plinth, he created a sound world.
About 30 people gathered in the garden on Friday to mark the opening of the new audio work Mercy Falls Like Gentle Rain.
"I wanted it to be something that Peter Nicholls would have been pleased to see. That was a big part of it.
"The title is because of Peter's strong connection to religion and my idea that we need something which is sort of like gentle and soft and empathetic ..."
O’Kane, who has been creating art for several decades, said this was his first "sound sculpture".
"I worked with the box, which was already there, which is made of steel. And I saw it as some sort of object in its own right.
"The sound was originally recorded in a cavern-like tunnel, an old tunnel, where water was dripping from the ceiling into a pool of water ... It just sounds so right inside this big metal box."
O’Kane said once he got the idea for the piece, its creation went quickly.
O’Kane said he had demonstrated the sound sculpture to people already, and he "couldn't be happier" with their reactions.
The memorial plinth for the late Dunedin sculptor Peter Nicholls, located in the upper lawn of Knox Church, was erected in 2023 and displays a new sculpture every four to six months.
