Hippolyta – Large Scale

Amazon Queen, heroine of ‘The Bull from the Sea’ by Mary Renault; warrior and beauty, maiden of Artemis; loved and abducted by Theseus and bore him a son, Hippolytus; fought and died defending Athens from the Amazons – her own people.

I was inspired by a passage from Renault’s novel to create this work. The passage describes the Amazons bathing in the sea. At that moment Theseus and his men sail up the coast and see them. The Amazons run into the woods to hide but Hippolyta comes out with her bow and arrow. In that first sight Theseus falls in love with Hippolyta, whilst she is ready to kill him. My client, who commissioned the sculpture wanted someone who was like a cheetah. I engaged two contemporary dancers to model for the piece and made a composite figure to arrive at the final sculpture.

Hippolyta – Maquette

Scale maquette for a seven-foot sculpture combining the warrior beauty of the Amazon ‘King’ and the voluptuous spirituality of a Hindu goddess.