One of 14 public art works with a total value of more than $4 million

They normally hide at the bottom of the garden, but this nine-metre stainless steel garden gnome stands out from the rest of them.

Far from hiding away in a shady corner of a backyard fernery, the enormous gnome was welcoming motorists on Melbourne's Peninsula Link freeway on Thursday.

Built with the aid of a structural engineer, New Zealand sculptor Gregor Kregar spent two years making the nine metres high statue which he named 'Reflective Lullaby'.

A nine-metre, stainless steel gnome could be seen welcoming motorists on Melbourne's Peninsula Link freeway on Thursday

'Gnomes are quite often overlooked and seen as unimportant, but I like the idea that you can take something that can be forgotten, little things like that, and make them more the focus of attention,' he told AAP.

'I wanted to create a mystical guardian for modern life.'

Reflective Lullaby was shipped from Auckland and a crane lifted the giant gnome into position in its new home by the freeway at Langwarrin in Melbourne's south.

Reflective Lullaby is not Mr Kregar's largest work.

'In terms of scale, it's quite large, but I've done quite a few large architectural pieces before that are even larger,' he said.

New Zealand sculptor Gregor Kregar spent two years making the statue which he named 'Reflective Lullaby'

The installation is one of 14 public art works with a total value of more than $4 million to be commissioned for the road over 25 years, as part of the Southern Way McClelland Commission.

Mr Kregar said he's a little sad to leave behind the nine-metre high sculpture he conceived more than two years ago.