Monumental Figurative Sculptures Of A Woman And A Big Cat By Dylan Lewis At His Sculpture Garden Near Stellenbosch In South Africa Editorial Photo

Pictured are monumental sculptures of a woman and a big cat by Dylan Lewis at the Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden near Stellenbosch, South Africa. A spring-fed lake is in the foreground. Born in Johannesburg in 1974, he is Africa's most internationally renowned living figurative sculptor. Initially known for his big cats, Lewis has gradually shifted vision and focus onto the human figure. Lewis starts creating his sculptures with clay figures he forms with his hands. Each is translated with the use of a silicone rubber mould into a hollow wax copy. The wax model is then encased in a refractory ceramic and heated in a kiln, whereupon the was oozes from the mould leaving a cavity into which the molten bronze is poured. When the bronze has cooled the ceramic coat is chipped off to reveal a metal replica of the original clay sculpture, with Lewis's marks and imprints intact. For monumental sculptures he mixes a water based acrylic plaster with metallic oxides and iron dust and molds his polymer on to a lightweight foam core.