Sculptor
David
Mayer is combining his passions to
support big cat conservation by donating 10% of proceeds from sales of
bronze pieces to Panthera,
the global leader in big cat conservation. Mayer recently released a jaguar
sculpture, which capturing this elusive creature, once believed
to have been eradicated from 40
percent of their historic range due to illegal poaching and land development.
“Panthera
is very grateful to David for bringing together the worlds of art and science
in support of wild cat conservation.
All of the proceeds we receive through this partnership will go
toward our jaguar programs, including the Jaguar Corridor
Initiative which protects and connects jaguar habitats in the
Americas,” said Panthera Vice-President Luke Hunter.
Panthera’s
jaguar experts believe corridors that allow the big cats to maintain links
between populations are crucial to their survival. The organization works with
government agencies and local landowners to ensure corridors stay intact by
mitigating conflicts between humans and cats, and by ensuring that land-use
plans accommodate the ability of jaguars to move through human landscapes such
as plantations and cattle ranches.
“As
an artist drawing inspiration from the natural world I understand how important
diversity is and also how there has to be a bigger vision involved in
conservation than merely saving an animal from extinction, we have to look at
the bigger picture. Panthera do that and therefore I am delighted to aid this
vision in some way with my artwork,” said Mayer.
Mayer begins each sculpture with observations made in the
wild, when possible, noting anatomy and other details and making sketches from life, measurements are also provided by the research teams.
After the clay sculpture is complete the artwork goes through an eight-week
casting process in a UK art foundry. Each finished bronze has its own
distinct identity in that the patina finish is always unique to that piece.
The
jaguar piece is modelled after
jaguars from Brazil’s Pantanal region where Panthera scientists recently
captured and radio-collared the second largest individual ever measured. The
Pantanal jaguars are renowned for being the largest and heaviest on the planet.
The
jaguar sculpture is the second big cat in the project Mayer is producing for
the new partnership. His beautiful leopard sculpture inaugurated the
partnership and he is now working on an African lion. A portion of sales of
each and every cat sculpture supports Panthera’s field projects.
The Jaguar Sculpture measures 49cm x 19.5cm x
9cm in an edition of 12. Price £2950.
In
addition to sculpting big cats Mayer continues to add to his range of bronze
editions covering a variety of species.
For
more information about Panthera, and its work to protect jaguars, please visit:
http://www.panthera.org/jaguar_programs_projects.html