[2] Interested in the human body and three-dimensional form, he became a sculptor, often combining natural materials (wood, stone) with stainless steel and bronze.
He refined his practice as a sculptor while lecturing at CPIT (now Ara Institute of Canterbury) in the School of Art and Design.
[4][6] For the World Firefighters Games held in Christchurch in October/November 2002, Bennett sculpted A Tribute to Firefighters from steel girders from the World Trade Centre destroyed in the September 11 attacks donated by the mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.
A few months later, Reasons for Voyaging was installed in front of the Christchurch Art Gallery in 2003, consisting of seven angled stainless steel poles that are up to 13 metres (43 ft) tall.
[2] During this time, he produced Oversight, a sculpture installed in front of the School of Landscape Architecture.