I dedicate The Champions to my daughter, Katherine Cauvin deKay. She perceived the idea of a female lion 15 years ago. I was not into the concept at the time, but I kept
mulling it around in my mind, marinating it, as I do with most of my sculptures. Then I began to think of it organically. How was I going to bring this being to life? How could I express my interpretation of this? What does it mean to be a woman and a man in these times? We are equal but not the same. Just as in our humanity, we are equal but not the same. That meaning is changing and growing. I wanted to concentrate on the magnificence of each and the beauty of these changes. My desire is to portray these mystical beings as champions. Not a champion over another, but a champion in the deeper sense of the word. This way of living in balance would bring out the magnificence of their unique, loving nature.
These pieces came to represent something bigger. More of a new being ... mythical beings! These beings are placed as they are to create a portal ... to the energy of harmony. That is my intent with the story they tell and the resonance I set. They are to adorn the entrance of a very special place. The home of my daughter, just as she had suggested so many years ago. I could see them evolving into so much more as I moved on. My sculptures are manifestations of my personal journey. As I moved closer to the birthing of this project, I was coming to a place within myself of such peace and ease of being. I was really becoming comfortable in my skin. I was coming to peace with the wise old woman I was becoming. Many changes came with age, but the biggest was the realization of how happy I am and how loved I feel. I have embraced the life
I have been given, and am filled with gratitude. The Champions were born of my imagination, marinating the concept over the past 15 years.
It was over this period that I experienced life-changing. I watched my daughter grow into the wonderful mother, wife, and CEO that she is today. I have observed her grow so beautifully. As her mother, I could not have been more amazed and proud of who she has become. She was my inspiration for these pieces. Thus, I began my journey of birthing The Champions. I spent hours looking at stock photos of lions. I was studying real lions and sculptured lions. I was experiencing such a richness of my imagination. At first I was considering the beings in different poses. I knew they were to look you in the eye as you experienced them. Standing in between to feel the power and be moved as you encountered them.
It was interesting attempting this project. I would have to walk a fine line between mistakenly creating whimsical creatures, which was not my intent, and creating beings that would evoke a sense of the regalness that they were meant to inspire. After much consideration, I decided on this pose.
They would be sitting tall with heads held high. I see the world in which we live in such peril and polarization. I am aware, I see the
horrors out there and am disturbed. With this piece ... The Champions, Noble and
Triumph, I wanted to stress the importance of keeping ourselves in balance ... finding
the harmony of our being. To me, Kate is my champion ... the balancing of the male
and the female ... It is beautiful how she has grown into the woman she is! Not perfect,
but living and working in new ways. She planted the idea all those years ago and it
grew and changed ... marinating. I began physically producing The Champions in late 2017. The beings have morphed
into who they are now. Noble, with lofty goals and beliefs of equality in our world ... with people balancing male and female within. Noble’s lofty goals are achieved as the sword is released from the stone becoming Triumph and forming ... the BETWEEN ... the portal of Harmony! As in the mythical days of the Arthurian legend, creating harmony!
The Champions were installed Christmas 2019. I have been working to finish this art chronicle of my work – this book. As I sit on my front porch finishing this chapter
of the book, we are all in the middle of the COVID pandemic and the horrors of the murders ... the marches... these are times of change. Our world is crying out! How timely these pieces are. We as a humanity are trying to find this balance. I have portrayed the victory of that discovery through Noble and Triumph. I had no idea how far this energy would be reaching out in the world. As with most of my large projects, they seem to take on their story of the times we are living, and that flows through the piece. As with all of my major sculptures, I have found myself filled with awe at how timely my sculptures are and the stories they tell. I am experiencing, through my art, the energies that are needed at this time of chaos, tragedy and polarity. I have been working on sculptures that represent the energy and resonance needed for our world to find its balance. A society that values all equally and cherishes our uniqueness as champions, with pure intents of equality and respect. These I imbue into my sculptures that they may set this resonance into the world ... as we
become our own champions. We need to be the very best we can be ... in our magnificence of the divine beings we are born to be ... We will see each other as valuable individuals that together make up the fabric of our world!
May The Champions: Noble and Triumph... bring this energy and resonance into our world!
