FAMILY CHAOS! – Family of Warthogs

I spent a week in South Africa with a total focus on studying the animals in the bush.  We stayed in Ants Nest, based in Waterberg, about 3 hours north of Johannesburg and it was such joy, to be able to draw and sculpt from life, and really try and understand the nature of all these amazing South African beasts.

My favourite friends, were the warthogs….we were so lucky to be able to study them very closely as they would come and steal the food which was being fed to the horses in the stables.  The warthogs of all ages, and shapes and sizes, would run around and squeal and fight and make huge amounts of noise as they fed amongst the relaxed horses, oblivious of their little neurotic friends!

I have sculpted a warthog some years ago, and captured their movement, showing it fleeing from a fearful enemy, but what I had failed to understand in this bronze sculpture,  is their rather comical, joyous nature which I discovered for the first time during my recent visit to South Africa.

This bronze sculpture is very much a study of the interaction between the warthog family members.  Led at the front by the father, and the mother is following up the rear, keeping an eye on the young.  One baby warthog is trying to be as big and bold as his Dad, while the other tiny warthog is really struggling to keep up, but is fearless and oblivious of its own vulnerability.

I had to sculpt several warthogs before I managed to find what I was looking for, which was a very loosely sculpted set of bronze warthogs, creating movement and thoughtful intense interaction between each other.

This bronze sculpture of warthogs is a statement piece for the home, in the centre of a table or a mantle piece, and is cast as a limited edition of 12 in bronze, on a slate base.