Indomitable

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Kodiak brown bear “Indomitable” by Nick Bibby
Oxford Street at Old Quebec Street
London, September 2014

“The creation of the monumental bronze sculpture, ‘Indomitable’, depicting a life-size Kodiak Brown Bear, has been a mammoth undertaking, requiring the talents of Nick and over 100 skilled workers at Pangolin Editions foundry in Chalford, Gloucestershire, to bring to reality. Involving over 3,000 hours work by Nick and the team at Pangolin; weighing over 5000 lbs and towering to 15 feet in height, the finished bronze sculpture projects an almost unbelievable aura of power and majesty, deeply affecting all who see it. Originally commissioned by Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, Nick began by sculpting a 1/5th scale Maquette of the bear in water-based clay, which was then moulded and cast by Pangolin. This cast was laser scanned to provide computer data, used to create an exact digital enlargement of the bear in urethane foam. This foam enlargement was then covered with a thin layer of wax by Pangolin’s talented modellers, to provide a key for the final layer of wax modelling clay, added by Nick to sculpt the intense detail and texture of the finished bear. The completed monumental foam and wax sculpture was cut apart for moulding and casting into bronze. The bronze bear was cast in 12 separate sections, using over 2500lbs of bronze, the head and paws were cast using the cire perdu or, ‘Lost Wax’ method, whilst the two body sections were cast using giant sand moulds. The various sections were subsequently welded together and the welds skilfully re-detailed, prior to being patinated and attached to the massive fabricated sheet bronze and stainless steel plinth, using huge stainless steel bolts. Indomitable number 1 now stands proudly, outside the Nelson Fitness Centre, on Brown’s University Campus, in Providence, and a second cast has already been sold, which was recently on show near Marble Arch, on Oxford Street, London.” (Kodiak Brown Bear - Indomitable, Nick Bibby)