"If I can convey the beauty and inherent majesty of wild animals through sculpture, which can then, in turn, give them a means of protection, my work has its best outcome"
'The Chase'
Unique Bronze Cast
600mm wide
Auctioned for Remembering Wildlife
Sold at GBP 5300
POSITIVE DISINTEGRATION
A term used by psychiatrist Kazimierz Dabrowski to capture the idea of the world 'falling apart' when the situation makes untenable the assumptions we have used to construct an integral sense of self. We can then assess and integrate the broken pieces of ourselves into a new and more robust whole.
Works available through ARTBAY GALLERY
Queenstown, NZ
The destiny of the elephant is entirely in one person's hands, the president of China.
Andrea Costra (Wildleaks: The Ivory Game)
In the Palm of the Dragon
Unique Bronze
LHW 1000mm 310mm 250mm
SOLD
END OF IVORY
Christie's, Los Angeles
Group Show
Catalogue here
In dedication to the legacy of elephant conservation that David Shepherd pioneered, the passion and focus of this noble cause to defend the honour of these gentle giants continues. Following the success of the Christies show in 2017, the ambassador artists of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation will be collaborating to create another powerful body of work.
As one of the largest black markets for illegal ivory being smuggled and sold under the guise of an annual legal quota, the decision to ban all Ivory trade completely will have the potential ripple effect to greatly hinder any immediate movement of ivory stockpiles throughout China. This will, in turn, assist elephant populations to recover as poaching becomes riskier for syndicates to capitalise on.
Matriarch
Unique Bronze
LHW 200mm 225mm 160mm
AVAILABLE
Times are tough for the ancient mothers of the savannah. Poaching, climate change, habitat loss, human confrontation and development and have all made the future of elephant generations more precarious. These are however the tusked symbols of wisdom, patience and resilience. As long as we make space for them, the next generation will be there.
Remover of Obstacles
Unique Bronze
LHW 200mm 200mm 160mm
SOLD
The ancient icon of Ganesha has been re-imagined to respond to the immediate threat the ivory trade has on the elephant species. Multiple limbs suggest different facets of the oppression that is apparent in the 21st Century. The right-hand, as in the ancient pose still holds an axe, to cut off bonds of attachment, whilst the left holds a bolt cutter, to liberate captive and abused animals. The lower right-hand gestures for peace and the poachers to stop, whilst the lower-left palm offers the broken tusk as a token of the unnecessary sacrifices elephants have made to our superficial materialism. The ladder signifies the endless desire of men as it rises out of the strewn tusks of past generations. A relic of a future time, the remover of obstacles will prevail and inspire.
Image by Adam Bannister
PROCESS
Max practices a bronze casting technique that encapsulated his concerns of habitat and species loss into a distinctive language. By frequenting sawmills he collected splinters and shards of invasive timber. With these, he then constructed indigenous birds, nests, and wings. These wooden creations serve as the kindling for a unique lost cast technique, where the incineration of shape becomes the mould for the final sculpture. These hollow spaces are then cast with bronze, thereby immortalising the species that are so significant to him.
