Herts Sculpture Marks New Law On Same Sex Marriage

29 March 2014, 08:04 | Updated: 29 March 2014, 08:16

The change in law today, which allows same-sex couples to marry has been celebrated in a new piece of art - thanks to a sculptor from near Tring.

Nick Davis has created "Whispers from an Unwrinkled Horizon" - it's  cast in bronze, with gold leaf, and depicts a small group of fauns of Greek and Roman mythology.

Two of the female fauns, who are part human part goat, are getting married, overseen by friends and relatives, presided over a priest who is part bird, part human.
 
Extending above the area where the marriage is taking place is a long ladder. One of the fauns has scaled the ladder in order to scan the horizon to take a longer view.
 
Nick, 38, who runs a studio and foundry near Tring told Heart: "To mark this momentous occasion I have produced a sculpture that wonderfully celebrates the love and commitment that couples of any sexuality can now legally show with the religious ceremony once only confined to heterosexual couples.

I've never seen anything quite like it. I've tried hard to make it unique."
 
Diane Coates, joint curator of the event, said: "Nick's sculpture, while beautiful and poetic, conveys his support for such an important change to legislation."
 
Civil partnership became legal in the United Kingdom in 2004, which allowed same-sex couples to live in legally-recognised partnerships.

But new laws in England and Wales have only just come into effect, meaning same-sex couples can now finally be legally wed and the first ceremonies have already taken place in the early hours of this morning.

Nick Davis will exhibit "Whispers from an Unwrinkled Horizon" at the Great British Sculpture Show at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire (April 5 til September 30).