Personal: Elephants of Asia, Jan 2011

Late last year, my husband Aragna was approached about contributing a sculptural painting to the LA Zoo's: Elephants of Asia Exhibit in time for it's opening in January.  The zoo commissioned various Asian artists to decorate an elephant sculpture (provided by the zoo) that represented a country where Asian Elephants naturally inhabit.  A native of Cambodia, Aragna designed his elephant to feature the beautiful ancient stone temple Angkor Watt, which could not have been constructed without the help of the Asian Elephant.  The project was a bit disorganized and by the time we actually received the elephant sculpture, I believe we only had about 3 weeks to get it done in time for the opening reception.  Submitting to my wifely duties, haha, I dove into the project to help Aragna complete it.  I was in charge of the entire elephant's face/head.  It took us all of our free time after work and on the weekends, but we got it done in time to attend the opening where we got to meet Slash (guitarist for Guns N Roses) and I got to meet my teenage crush Gavin Rossdale (lead singer of my then favorite band Bush, aka, Gwen Stefani's husband).  It was a dream come true to work on one of my favorite animals of all time and being able to visit the habitat at night.  We had a lot of fun working on it, as we do all of our art projects together. 
So... if you are at the LA Zoo, keep your eyes open... it's on permanent display in the new Elephants of Asia Exhibit!!!!

 

For more on the exhibit and Aragna's contribution:
Aragna Ker, Elephants of Cambodia  (youtube video)
aragna ker, elephants of asia online article