PLYMOUTH – High on a ridge in Plymouth, the cacophony of drills and clouds of blowing stone dust rose Wednesday from behind a hand-hewn farmhouse on a hot afternoon.

In the shadow of a 100-year-old barn, Plymouth master carver David Holmes carefully put the finishing touches on a 2,200-pound eagle carved from Sullivan granite.

Working alongside Holmes, carving an ethnic design into a piece of basalt from Steuben, was Barry Te Whatu, 32, a Maori artist from New Zealand. His creation is a Maori canoe prow, complete with woven reed lashings and native designs.

Holmes invited Te Whatu to live and work at Holmes’ Plymouth farm and to participate in this week’s International Sculpture Symposium held at Round Top Center for the Arts in Damariscotta. Stone sculptors attending the symposium came from the United States, Japan, Czech Republic and New Zealand.

The pair were carving feverishly Wednesday as their works are scheduled to be auctioned off tonight at Round Top.

“Outside of his amazing talent and personality,” Holmes said in describing Te Whatu, “he has carved a piece of native Maori artwork on native Maine stone. I think this is one of the most important cultural exchanges in this state.”

Te Whatu is considered one of New Zealand’s foremost carvers, starting with bone and shell and working up to stone.

“I come from a world where I learned my art through tradition,” he said.

The Holmes family winters in New Zealand, and the men have known each other for years. This week, however, has been their first opportunity to work together.

His experience in Maine will change his art, Te Whatu predicted, including in his use of materials. Granite is only available in New Zealand as polished countertops, and he found working with it was challenging.

“Here I have had a chance to experiment with marble and granite,” the carver said.

“I am now seeing the possibilities outside my own back yard,” he said. “Artists often stay within their own comfort zone, unfortunately. I am going away a better person for being here.”

Te Whatu said a visit on Tuesday to Indian Island was one of the most remarkable experiences of his visit, his first trip outside New Zealand.

“One of my goals in coming was to meet the native peoples of America,” Te Whatu said, adding that he learned the two ethnic groups have more similarities than differences. “We are dealing with the same issues, asking the same questions. We use similar designs, traditions and ways.

“Although we are many miles apart, we are really the same,” he said.

Te Whatu said the bond between the Maoris and the American Indians “transcends art. But we can use art to teach our young people to lift their heads up proudly, to stand tall. Like all ethnic people, it seems the young ones have the most trouble.”

In New Zealand, what is important are the people, not just the beauty of the land, Te Whatu said.

“That is also what I found here in Maine. Beautiful people,” he said. “I will take back from this opportunity the wonderful friends, the symposium and Indian Island.”