Simon Gudgeon

Isis is the first piece of public sculpture to be placed in London’s Hyde Park for over 50 years and has formed an integral part of the hugely successful £2 million fundraising campaign to build the new Look Out Education Centre. At over 10 feet tall and three quarters of a tonne in weight Isis is a magnificent work visible from over 500 yards, a sculpture one wants to instinctively touch and explore.

Isis was also unveiled at the new Sculpture Trail at the National Museum of Wildlife Art of America in 2012, being one of the key pieces in this new addition to the Museum’s exhibits. It will be placed at the northern end of the Trail, overlooking the National Elk Refuge.  Isis is based on an ibis, a wading bird with a long, thin, down-curving bill. The word ibis was originally Greek, deriving from the ancient Egyptian hib. In ancient Egypt the sacred ibis was an object of religious worship particularly associated with the god Thoth. Although the sculpture was originally inspired by an ibis, the final form embraces an abstracted asymmetrical design that is derived from natural forms and the human form, all combining to produce a sculpture that conveys emotion that relates to the human spirit. The name Isis comes from the Egyptian goddess of nature - the feminine archetype for creation. Her titles include goddess of fertility; mother of deities; queen of heaven, earth and the underworld; goddess of simplicity; and the great protector. Her associations can be viewed in the finished sculpture, it is essentially a contemplative piece, inward-looking, trying to understand the reason for our existence: where we have come from, where we are going and our place in the universe.