Alfie turns attention to jungle with baby orangutan sculptures
Knife Angel sculptor Alfie Bradley has turned his hand to something a little cuter with his latest piece.
The Oswestry artist – who has helped raise awareness of knife crime with the towering Knife Angel – is now doing his bit to highlight the effects of deforestation.
He has created a limited edition series of baby orangutans, wearing a shirt that says, Jungle Ain’t Massive, to highlight the effects of deforestation caused by palm oil production.
The sculptor, who is known for a range of artworks, from a D-Day soldier to the Knife Angel, currently touring British cities, created the orangutans at his studio in Rednal just outside the town. He said his inspiration came from listening to a music track by General Levy – Jungle is Massive.
“The lyric was going round and round in my head and I just thought, no the jungle isn’t massive, we are losing far too much of our rain forest.
“Everything happening to the orangutans popped into mind and I kept thinking ‘jungle ain’t massive’. The idea started there."
Alfie said it took a few months to make the clay mould, then an extra few months to get it made in bronze. The young male orangutan is holding on to a piece of his destroyed habitat and standing on a burned tree stump.
“I hope that they will make people stop and think,” Alfie said.
One of the orangutans was the star of a a charity fundraiser in London, organised by Dutch model, Mila de Witt.
“Those at the event, which raised money to save the orangutans of Sumatra loved the sculpture,” Alfie added.
