"The thing is with inspiration, is that you never get any warning before it hits you…”
Senna 'Eau Rouge'
Ayrton Senna in the dynamic of Eau Rouge into Raidillon, unveiled at Autosport International in 2019 to mark 25 years, and immediately bought by McLaren to show on their famous MTC Boulevard. Modelled on real life with myself as the stunt body being the same height and a similar build to Ayrton, in Ayrton's suit, boots and helmet. Perhaps the first time I have suffered for my art – this position was excruciating! Adding to the realism with the strain of holding it repeatedly creating a dynamic that I could never have faked, the 'oversteer dance' that many viewers do in front of him is the perfect appraisal.
This bronze is the thing that changed everything, is even what I am usually introduced by now. And the start of a 10 year project with McLaren to permanently immortalise their world champions.
Limited editions are available in bronze:
60% scale 110cm 35kg
20% scale 37cm 7kg
JPS Senna
A concept that I envisaged whilst still working on 'Eau Rouge', and using the combination of my favoured bare bronze 'gold' finish, and black paint. And based on a famous photo that I had always intended to commit to oil paint; Ayrton sitting on the tarmac behind his broken car during Friday practice at Estoril, 1985... two days before his maiden win in F1. I was intending to release 'JPS Senna' to mark 30 years in 2024... but with many other projects paused through 2020, it gave me far more time than expected to work on this, and so I unveiled early, with the help of Sky F1, when F1 surprisingly re-visited Portugal again because of covid.
Senna in JPS livery was my earliest memories of F1, the black and gold Lotus with yellow helmet looked just so cool to my 10-year-old self... I think because everything awesome in the 80's was black; Knightrider, the Cannonball Countach, Airwolf, and Streethawk. Little did I know at the time of the iconic driver that Senna already was, taken way too early, and revered to the level of saintliness ever since, the world over.
Limited editions are available in bronze:
Life-size on approval
60% scale - 35kg
20% scale - 7kg
Bruce McLaren
Commissioned by McLaren to mark 50 years since Bruce's passing and unveiled by his daughter Amanda at MTC, 2nd June 2020, mid covid lockdowns. For me personally, being commissioned for something of this magnitude by historically the greatest team in my chosen realm of F1, was truly unfathomable, and not even a dream or a target that I could have aimed for - it would have been conceited to do so. And yet there I was, almost alone being socially distanced, sat cross legged on the MTC floor during filming for the unveil, 49 candles flickering around my creation as we waited for the sun to set below the building's canopy, so that Amanda could lay her 50th candle at his feet, in the ghostly quiet McLaren boulevard lined with championship winning cars. It was the closest thing to a religious experience I have ever had.
Limited editions are available in bronze:
Life-size on approval
60% scale 110cm 35kg
20% scale 37cm 7kg
Alberto
To answer the question that I'm sure everyone was asking 'What would the iconic logo look like when performed by a real horse?', there was only one way to do it; to train a stunt horse to rear on one leg, and capture him in 3D whilst he did it. After three weeks training we had TV stunt horse, Luminoso, in our hastily enlarged 3D rig in the studio, surrounded by 200 cameras. He didn't lift his foot high or for very long but what this did give was a dynamic twist as all his weight was transferred onto one leg and directly underneath him... but even so it truly amazed all of us in the foundry when the first 3ft cast, 30kg of bronze, balanced perfectly on one hoof without being bolted down.
Named 'Alberto' after Ferrari's first F1 world champion Alberto Ascari
Limited editions are available in bronze:
6ft or 8ft including plinth
3ft or 4ft including plinth
1ft in black or bare bronze
Niki Lauda
The indomitable Niki Lauda, unarguably one of the most revered characters of F1 history. Not just because of his fast and fluid driving style, life dedicated to motorsport and well-documented triumph against adversity – but because of who he was as a person. So, to be tasked with creating a life-size memorial of such an iconic character, was truly daunting, never mind receiving that phone call on the very day that his passing was announced.
Just two weeks later driving back from McLaren HQ with Niki's race suit and helmet in the footwell didn't ease this pressure... but provided the ultimate realism, DNA even, to this project. Celebrating Niki's 3rd world title, for McLaren, sealed at the final championship round in Estoril, beating Prost by just half a point. The pose is based on a fleeting three fingered salute as Prost ushered Niki onto the top step of the podium – a little artistic licence to swap his podium cap out with his ubiquitous Parmalat red cap, giving Niki his helmet to hold, that being a driver’s signature, and half a step forward for dynamic.
Unveiled at McLaren on the third anniversary of Niki's passing, May 2022.
Limited editions are available in bronze:
Life-size on approval
60% scale - 110cm 35kg
20% scale - 37cm 7kg
I've always thought in 3D, I guess my painting style is testament to that, but it's obvious to me far further back than that. My entire childhood spent playing (learning...) with Lego is where I attribute much of my foundation as an artist, and I still have a felt tip collage I won a prize for aged 5, which is multi layered. At school it was pottery and woodwork that I most revelled in, then at University studying aerospace engineering, again it was the practical side. And to be honest, right now, sculpture is where my mind spends most of its time. The challenges and the costs with sculpture are exponentially greater... but also the scope of possibilities and power of the result with a much greater physical presence, should I get it right. Everything I create sculpturally, I can see in my mind’s eye from the outset, I wait for that vivid 'Eureka moment' of realisation before embarking on anything, have to be totally clear what I'm working towards, then the 'only' challenge is to bring that vision to reality. Based on three-dimensional motion capture and using the rarest of assets for hyper realism and dynamic, and a new improved take on what is fundamentally a very traditional output – 3D capture and augmented-reality modelling translated into the age-old tradition of lost wax bronze casting. And where sculpture has led me to, in a relatively short space of time, is mind blowing. Creating sculpture just feels like a legacy that is so much more permanent than paint, created from near indestructible materials that will be around for much much longer than I will be, and celebrating subjects often so revered and indeed worshipped, often by those who are so close to them... is a difficult thing to get your head around, to be responsible for creating something of that magnitude. I may well have already created my most renowned work – indeed although I will never rest from furthering what I do, I think that's fairly likely actually. But then I never saw that career defining epiphany coming either, that led me to create Senna 'Eau Rouge'. Inadvertently at first, I appear to have carved my own niche and a renewed self-styled role to celebrate the history of F1, in life-size bronze. Each statue is around 12 months from concept to realisation, and is created in three limited edition scales: Life-size, 60% (F1 wind tunnel development scale) and 20%.
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Carioca, the
Lamborghini bull
Created as part of Lamborghini’s global celebrations to mark 60 years. Twelve months in development to test the well known ‘Bull in a camera shop’ adage, based on a 3D capture of a young Hereford bull. I’d love to regale tales of unprecedented jeopardy as we froze a rampaging beast in full flight at the centre of our 160 camera rig, to recreate the famous logo. In reality, we found that if we placed a bucket of feed just out of reach of the tethered bull, that he stuck the pose perfectly, which was safer for all. Even so, the farmers' reassurance to our health and safety concerns ‘Don’t worry, I know my bull will be fine!’, didn’t really help... It is named Carioca after Lamborghini’s first vehicle, a tractor built from tank parts after the 2nd World War.
Unveiling 115kg of bronze, 4ft long, standing on his own shadow. Sculpts and editions are in progress at 1ft long and 10ft long... the latter you certainly won’t miss where No.1 is installed. Total editions over all sizes will be 60.