Louise Giblin’s stolen sculpture of her daughter.
INSPIRED by the Olympic Games in London next year, an Island sculptor will be making special casts from the bodies of some of Britain’s most successful Olympians.
With the Games on the horizon, former Ventnor woman Louise Giblin approached five leading athletes to model for a series of unique sculptures.
The athletes who agreed to be immortalised as works of art are Dame Kelly Holmes, Kriss Akabusi, Sally Gunnell, Beth Tweddle and paralympian swimmer Darren Leach.
Louise, who grew up in Ventnor but who now lives in Wadhurst, East Sussex, is widely regarded as the world’s leading exponent of sculpted body casts.
Working with the athletes later this month, the 48 year old’s casting process involves her coating them in a plaster-impregnanted bandage, from which a head or torso is produced in clay and the surface then added to and carved.
The patterning and surface work is then developed into themes around the subject’s own personal interests, history or achievements. Each will emerge as 12 limited edition pieces, produced in ceramic and cold-cast from metal resin, with a bronze option if required.
Louise is supporting Bucks Fizz star Cheryl Baker’s Headfirst mental health charity by donating ten per cent of the sales of her work to it. The works are expected to fetch at least £8,000 each.
Louise said: “As an artist who specialises in the human form, athletes are of particular interest. All my models, who reached the top of their sports, are still in tremendous shape.”
l Louise, who is currently exhibiting her work at the Royal Opera Arcade Gallery, Pall Mall, London, has had one of her most precious pieces stolen, which worth £3,200.
The distinctive limited-edition sculpture, which took Louise more than a year of experimenting to develop the unique cast, is a portrait of her daughter.
Reporter: jonm@iwcpmail.co.uk