Sphynx
The Sphinx is the best-known sculpture in Gilgal Garden designed and created by LDS businessman Thomas Battersby Child, Jr. (1888-1963) in his spare time. It is also, Child wrote “the basis of thought or inspiration for all that is built around it.” The contrast of the unhewn stones arranged to suggest a crouching animal with the finely carved face of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith makes this a remarkable piece. Child carefully selected the huge quartzite stones to form the Sphinx’s body and hired sculptor Maurice Brooks to create the face using an oxyacetylene torch.
The other finished statues are likewise unconventional, even eccentric: a sacrificial altar, a shrine to Child's beloved wife Bertha even Child's stone interpretation Daniel II: Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream. Not everyone appreciates his particular artistic vision. His primary concern, however, was that the garden would succeed in making people think: "You don't have to agree with me," he said. "You may think I am a nut, but I hope I have aroused your thinking and curiosity." -- Courtesy Friends of Gilgal Garden
Salt Lake City, Utah
To see more of this quirky but fascinating sculpture garden check out my album here: www.flickr.com/photos/19779889@N00/albums/721777203075209...
Sphynx
The Sphinx is the best-known sculpture in Gilgal Garden designed and created by LDS businessman Thomas Battersby Child, Jr. (1888-1963) in his spare time. It is also, Child wrote “the basis of thought or inspiration for all that is built around it.” The contrast of the unhewn stones arranged to suggest a crouching animal with the finely carved face of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith makes this a remarkable piece. Child carefully selected the huge quartzite stones to form the Sphinx’s body and hired sculptor Maurice Brooks to create the face using an oxyacetylene torch.
The other finished statues are likewise unconventional, even eccentric: a sacrificial altar, a shrine to Child's beloved wife Bertha even Child's stone interpretation Daniel II: Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream. Not everyone appreciates his particular artistic vision. His primary concern, however, was that the garden would succeed in making people think: "You don't have to agree with me," he said. "You may think I am a nut, but I hope I have aroused your thinking and curiosity." -- Courtesy Friends of Gilgal Garden
Salt Lake City, Utah
To see more of this quirky but fascinating sculpture garden check out my album here: www.flickr.com/photos/19779889@N00/albums/721777203075209...