Giant elephant sculpture finds a home in Swindon

By Ben Fitzgerald - 6 December 2016

Arts and Culture

A lifesized bull elephant created by internationally acclaimed sculptor David Lomax was unveiled at the base of a hill in Liddington, to the east of the town, on 4 December.

More than 150 guests from Liddington village, local politicians arts and community organisations witnessed the covers being pulled back to reveal a representation of the Hoarusib Bull, which David encountered looking after his harem on a visit to the Skeleton Coast of Namibia in the 1980s.

The artwork was created for renowned conservationist John Aspinall in 1992. The plaster creation was the basis for casting three twelve foot tall bronze statues by Pangolin Editions in Stroud. Each weighed four tonnes and were shipped to Los Angeles, Australia and Mexico.

From there the plaster elephant, which had been cut up into twelve pieces to cast the different parts in bronze before being welded together, lay in hibernation for nearly 25 years, until Lord and Lady Joffe visited David’s studio and were introduced to the head hidden in the storage area.

the Hoarusib Elephant Bull Liddington Manor, Swindon

©Calyx Picture Agency. Sculptor David Lomax with the elephant at Liddington Manor

Joel Joffe told the crowd at the unveiling: “It was the eyes of the elephant that caught us in the gloom in the studio and we started to think we could provide a home if all the parts were put together again.”

With assistance from Pangolin Studios a new metal frame was built to support the assembled plaster pieces and the ground prepared in a field close to Liddington Manor. The process took four months including the application of a special weather resistant finish to the plaster. David described the reassembly of the dormant Hoarusib Bull ‘as a wonderful project of resurrection.’

Building the tension before the plastic cover was pulled back, David said: “I found myself standing, ankle deep in some soft yielding sand, watching him emerge from behind some bushes. Then his ears became alert, he’d spotted us. My heart leapt out of excitement and considerable fear.

“He remained standing there – calmly, peacefully, watching us – he had that aura of restrained power.”

Before the big reveal South Swindon MP Robert Buckland said: “I’m proud that we are doing this here, in the Borough of Swindon. We’re a town that people tend to overlook, or forget about, or regard sometimes with an embarrassed shrug.

“Those of us who know our town know that nothing could be further from the truth. We are a place of surprises, a place of contrasts and of hidden talents.

“But I think it’s time that we drop the word hidden and start to talk more loudly about what we are capable of and what we are already doing in terms of our contribution to arts and culture.

“David Lomax is a pivotal example of that, he has been working for many years now at the top of his art and he has chosen to do that here, in Swindon.”

The guests to the unveiling ceremony were asked to give generously to the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. Amanda Butler from Peatmoor, who acts as volunteer foundation ambassador in the region, described the efforts to work with governments in Africa to prevent poaching, as well as sending undercover agents to investigate illegal wildlife crime, and to encourage villagers to see wildlife as an asset and find ways to discourage elephants off their lands, as well as running orphanages for baby elephants whose parents have been killed.

She said: “From present numbers, there may not be any elephants in the wild in ten years which is very worrying, a tragedy taking place in front of our eyes.”

Of David Lomax’s sculpture, Amanda added: “It’s absolutely magnificent, fantastic to see it standing with one leg slightly raised as if it’s moving. The texture is so realistic and the eyes captivate you.”

www.davidshepherd.org

the Hoarusib Elephant Bull Liddington Manor, Swindon

©Calyx Picture Agency

 

the Hoarusib Elephant Bull Liddington Manor, Swindon

©Calyx Picture Agency

 

 

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