GEORGE NEWS - Nuts don’t only have a practical purpose to hold stuff together, like the wheels to your car.
Local artist Zane Pretorius elevates their status to that of something beautiful, too, by piecing them together to form sculptures.
His latest - and biggest - piece to date is a magnificent metal elephant he painstakingly created out of 39 000 nuts. This lovely piece of art is sure to become a new landmark in the George CBD, having found its resting place at Dynarc House on the corner of Courtenay and Meade Street. It was installed on Sunday.
Commissioned by Dynarc CEO Willie van Heerden, the elephant is a lovely depiction of the company’s elephant logo. Van Heerden says he chose this logo many years ago because it embodies the power of Africa for him.
A crane truck was used to transport the sculpture from Pretorius’ studio at the back of his home in George South to Dynarc.
It took him four months of almost non-stop work to complete it. “It’s a process of blood, sweat and tears, and lots of swearing,” he chuckled, but he said he was ecstatic to see it finally standing in the place it was made for.
To form the sculpture’s shape, he created a mould from steel, which he covered with chicken mesh. He then sprayed expanding foam all over it, carving it out afterwards. Then followed a layer of plasticene and clay, which allowed him to add life-like detail to the sculpture. Plaster of Paris came last to form the mould, which was the base to which the nuts were pieced together.
The sculpture was not moulded in one piece, but various pieces of it were done separately and eventually welded together. Finally, the sculpture was lasered and burnt with the help of two friends, before it was covered in engine oil, which will allow it to expand and contract with heat.
“Nuts give me the space to combine all the sculpting experience I have accumulated, giving me a lifelike 3D honeycomb dimensional look. I also want the viewer to use their own imagination in what they see,” said Pretorius.
Standing in a prominent location in one of George’s main streets and opposite the historic Mother Church, the sculpture truly comes into its own.
PHOTO GALLERY: Elephant sculpture at Dynarc House embodies 'power of Africa'
Artist Zane Pretorius (right) with Hardy Harry, his assistant in his studio.
Local artist Zane Pretorius' latest masterpiece, a life-sized metal elephant sculpture made from 39 000 nuts. He spent four months assembling the sculpture, welding the nuts together to create this striking landmark.
A crane truck was used to lift the elephant onto the Dynarc House stoep.
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