Chimpanzee Sculpture – Vulnerable

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Media: Clay and glaze. 

Size: 28 cm by 18 cm by 20 cm (11 inch by 7.25 inch by 8 inch).

Description: Chimpanzees are facing potential extinction in the wild due to threats including hunting, habitat loss, disease and traficking for the exotic pet trade. This sculpture has been created with a large crack in the belly representing its vulnerability. This has been repaired using an approach called Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending it with gold lacquer. Kintsugi highlights the fragility of existence, acknowledging and highlighting the breakages, the repair, and celebrates a kind of rebirth. I thought this was a perfect metaphor for the plight of endangered wildlife, its history and a glimmer of hope that we, the human race, can mend our relationship with nature if only we have the will to do so.