Makybe Diva, Port Lincoln Foreshore
The commission that would change everything — Makybe Diva.
Makybe Diva, Ken’s first public sculpture, is arguably one of the most famous racehorses in Australian racing history. A life-size portrait of the three-times Melbourne Cup winner now stands proudly on the foreshore at Port Lincoln, the home town of the horse’s owner tuna fisherman Tony Santic.
The sculptural process began in 2005 with a photographic session at Freedman Stables in Victoria, just four weeks after that remarkable final win and immediate announcement of her retirement.
“I could not believe my eyes while watching the photographer photograph her ( Diva)…every time the camera clicked, the Diva adjusted her attitude and held position until the next click…I found this quite amazing, having never observed this quality in an animal before” - Ken Martin
Ken immersed himself in George Stubbs’ 1766 masterwork Anatomy of a Horse and spent multiple sessions with the mighty mare, photographing her and getting to know her. Ken prepared various sketches working through different possible compositions. It was decided and confirmed by the City of Port Lincoln Steering Committee that the chosen composition would be the standing study capturing Makybe Diva’s likeness and personality in peak racing condition. Makybe is renowned as the people’s horse, not only for her achievements, but for her notable interaction with the crowd: it was important that the sculpture reflect this characteristic.
Ken nominated plasticine as being the most suitable medium to sculpt this work. Consequently, he needed to first create a steel armature (skeleton) sufficiently strong to support the 500 kilograms of plasticine necessary to create the sculpture. A great deal of work went into creating a framework that allowed the sculpture to be hollow, thus confining the plasticine weight to just half a tonne.
During the sculpting process, Ken surrounded himself with more than 200 photographs of the horse along with proportional drawings and researched equine anatomy. A total immersion in the subject, day and night. By 2006 the end result was nine huge pieces of horse in bronze that had to be expertly welded together to show no joins.
She now sits proudly on the foreshore of her owners and Ken’s hometown, Port Lincoln, silhouetted against the waters of Boston Bay.
Life Size: 220cm H x 275cm L
Bronze
Plinth: Sandstone
City of Port Lincoln
South Australia
