Marathon king Eliud Kipchoge has been honored with a sculpture done by a Nairobi sculpting couple, Mandela Cleophas and Cheryl Nagawa.
The sculpture features Kipchoge’s head and torso, his recognizable dark complexion, and arms akimbo pose. With its distinctive face wrinkles, the sculpture bears an uncanny resemblance to the athlete’s lit-up face.
The creatives recently narrated the story behind the sculpture in a series of Instagram posts. The painstaking process took surgical precision, patience, and dexterity.
They revealed carving out the face is the hardest. They first kneaded a model of Kipchoge’s face using plasticine, meticulously taking measures of the facial aspects like eyes, nose, mouth, jawline, and ears. They continually hewed it out till the handiwork bore all resemblance in detail to the long-distance runner.
When it was unveiled, the artwork became an instant sensation and Kenyans appreciated the work many calling for it to be publicly showcased. There is a need for using homegrown art to tell our stories and celebrate our heroes.
Mandela who has been in the industry for last 15 years is the son of the late Oshottoe Ondula who created the Tom Mboya Statue that stands tall on Nairobi’s Moi Avenue.
In a recent interview with one of the dailies, Mandela revealed his skill as an acquired talent because he grew up watching his dad sculpting fantastic art pieces. “So by watching and trying to emulate him, I discovered that I could actually sculpt,” he disclosed.
Mandela went to Kenyatta University to pursue fine art but dropped out in the first semester. His iancée Cheryl Nagawa is not only an artist but also an interior designer.
Kipchoge aged 37 recently won the Tokyo Marathon in a new course record of 2:02:40 and shortly after winning, he called on the world to unite. “Finally, I want to say I want this world to unite. My win today is to bring positivity in this world,” he said.
This comes in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
