Elephant

Originally it was meant to be a lamp but ended up as an elephant. Inspired by the radiator figures on his customers' restored vintage cars, Gerald Fößl finally gave in to his gut feeling and gave free rein to his imagination.

Fößl learned his craft from the start at the Vocational College for Ornamental Blacksmithing and Metal Sculpting in Steyr. He wanted to feel his material and see how his figures grow, which is why he embosses his steel cold with an oak wood block, as was done back in the 1920/30s. In front of him his hand sketch, in his head the finished figure. At the same time with gently impacts, he forms the round rod until it meets his imagination. He then joins them together to form a skeleton, which forms the basic shape of the 1.2-metre high elephant. The ornamental blacksmith embosses the overlying skin in the same way. From around 300 individual parts, he models with an eye for the minute detail and with exceptional instinct the head, trunk, body, tail, ears, tusks and legs of the powerful animal. He uses 2 mm thick sheet steel, as it is easy to mould and stable.

The artist opted for hot-dip galvanizing by ZINKPOWER Bergheim to protect his sculpture from corrosion. 6 layers of paint were then applied.

© www.kunst-design.at, Gerald Fößl
Small picture: © Egon Zweimüller GmbH, www.kunst-design.at / www.kunst-design.at