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Wooden Melania Trump

Wooden Melania Trump

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About

Wooden Melania Trump refers to a wooden carved statue of Melania Trump made by amateur chainsaw sculpture artist Ales “Maxi” Zupevc which was erected in her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia and commissioned by conceptual artist Brad Downey. The carving drew much attention on Twitter due to the sculpture only hinting at Melania Trump's likeness.

Origin

On July 5th, 2019, American artist Brad Downey posted photos of the Melania Trump sculpture (shown below). The images garnered over 300 likes in four days. Downey captioned the photo's describing its maker's life and reveals that Downey and his team have made a documentary about the making of the sculpture.


View this post on Instagram

Today we officially opened the “Melania“ (monument) as part of “This Echo” at Vžigalica Galerija. 7. 2019–25. 8.2019--------------------------------------------- “Melania” 2019, Sevenica, Slovenia Digital video 12:11 min ___________________________________________________ “Brad Downey’s new ongoing project ”Melania” is a documentary film consisting of several parts about the construction of a monument of Melania Trump, carved into a tree that is still rooted in her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia. The current First Lady of the USA was born on April 26, 1970 in Novo mesto in the then Yugoslav republic of Slovenia. The sculpture of the president’s wife is made by a local pipe layer and amateur chainsaw sculptor named Maxi. Both Maxi and Melania were born on the same year in the same hospital, but their lives have taken drastically different directions. For the film, Downey and his team spent several months filming interviews with Maxi along with locations around the town. The result is a personal portrait of Maxi and his thoughts about Slovenia, the USA, Europe, immigration and class division. Through these interviews the film attempts to capture the spirit of Slovenia, which seems to be mirrored in Maxi’s interactions with his family, environment and his feelings about art, God, love, and country. By focusing on one working class man’s portrayal of a public and internationally known personality, the film offers insights on local and global problems and policies illuminated by the USA and Europe and beyond.” thanks: Aljaž Celarc , Miha and Jaka Erjavec #firstlady #slovenia #sevnica #AljažCelarc #immigration #refugees

A post shared by BRAD DOWNEY (@bigtimebrad) on


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On July 6th, 2019, Brad Downey[4] released his documentary titled "Melania" to YouTube (shown below). The documentary mainly follows the artist who prefers Melania Trump over Donald Trump as she is "simple." The video has accumulated over 29,700 views in four days.



On July 6th, Twitter users began share photo's of the statue and criticizing it. Twitter user NicholsUprising[1] tweeted, "I hope political passions will not inspire mockery of this uncanny likeness" (shown below, left). The tweet garnered over 120 likes in four days. Twitter user ‏mrleft1980[2] mocked the first lady by claiming the sculpture is "uncanny" and pairing the comment with a photoshopped photo of Donald Trump walking along with the statue (shown below, right). That day in an interview with CNN,[3] Downey said "he was inspired to create the piece due to what he calls the 'anti-immigration narrative' coming out of the US and from Donald Trump in particular. He noted that it was a "blatant contradiction" to have a president, who has made halting immigration a cornerstone of his presidency, married to an immigrant whose first language is not English."


John Nichols @NicholsUprising Melania Trump has been honored with a life- sized, wooden statue of herself near her hometown in Slovenia. I hope political passions will not inspire mockery of this uncanny likeness. 6:45 AM 6 Jul 2019 Mr Left#FBPE #WATON @mrleft1980 Replying to @EmmaKennedy it's uncanny! 3:48 AM-6 Jul 2019

Various Examples


Luka Fric @LukaFric In Melania Trump's hometown someone carved a wooden statue of... well, not her 9:48 PM -5 Jul 2019 East Kent Mockery @eastkentmockery The magic is still there! #MelaniaTrump #wooden #statue #Slovenia @realDonaldTrump @FLOTUS 5:56 PM-5 Jul 2019 Bugs4US @Bugs4US Scarecrow #FLOTUS unveiled in Slovenia !! Artist must be a fan of the Wizard of Oz. JJ JIfI only had a brain JJJ How long until AG Barr threatens to sue? Wooden Statue of Melania Trump Unveiled in Her Slovenian Hometown Locals are reportedly not pleased with the statue, which some have likened to a "scarecrow." thedailybeast.com 5:42 PM -5 Jul 2019 lan Caveney @lanCaveney This Melania Trump statue has a familiar face 2:53 AM 6 Jul 2019 me dia took u south @laweesa not the onion 'scarecrow' statue of melania trump unveiled in slovenia to mixed reviews i can understand why people might think this falls short as a description of her physical appearance' says american brad downey who commissioned it. insisting, 'it's absolutely beautiful 1:07 PM 5 Jul 2019 Chris Robertson @_chrisrobertson I s--- you not, this is a statue of Melania Trump in Slovenia It looks like its going to come alive and kill me in my sleep 4:08 PM -5 Jul 2019

Search Interest

External References

[1] Twitter – NicholsUprising

[2] Twitter – mrleft1980

[3] CNN – Melania Trump Statue Revealed
fn4. Brad Downey – Home

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