Guests form part of wildlife artwork at Lion Sands

“The stage is set. The scale is grand. Signatures and names from guests and staff form the foundation to stars within the cosmos of dreams. The stark reality of a lion looking directly into your soul as he drinks water, and whose brother’s blue eyes stare forward piercing the darkness of night, splitting the universe in half.” These are the words from artist Gary Davis, who revealed his interactive piece on New Year’s Eve at Lion Sands Ivory Lodge.

Such is the power of art to move one’s soul. This piece ‘Brothers in Arms’ is testament to creatures great and small on the African plane, the reawakening within one’s heart and the serenity in a moment now shared forever.

Gary spent two months on the MORE Family Collection Artist Residency at Lion Sands Game Reserve and was able to enjoy game drives where he was witness to the lion dynamics of the Southern and Styx prides. Gary’s previous artwork 'The Quiet Storm' was one of the Styx pride. Once he had set up in the gallery at Lion Sands Ivory Lodge, he revealed the outline of the piece and had guests become a part of the work by signing their names.

Gary was inspired by an image captured by Mike Borcherds and had longed to recreate this in his preferred medium of charcoal. “The scene plays out in the dead of night, in a moment so surreal and witnessed by only a few. A moment in time so precious that if not shared would be lost forever. This for me is the perfect piece, the finest I could possibly create here and now in my life,” said Gary.

“Brothers in Arms will always be so much more to me than a piece of art or the title I give it. These two lions, one of which is drinking at a waterhole whilst his brother walks up alongside him, both captured in reflection, set my heart on fire."

The final piece was revealed at the New Year’s Eve celebration and dedicated to all the guests and staff who inspired Gary to create it as well precious souls past, present and future. “I believe that if it takes a village to raise a child, then it took the village to inspire this artist.”

Robert More, CEO of MORE Family Collection, invited Gary to experience the inspiration of the natural world at Lion Sands: “When I met Gary, I was impressed by his artwork and vision. Our Artist Residency provided the perfect opportunity to showcase his work. That he would create this incredible interactive piece that our guests could truly be a part of, was just exceptional. One of our guests has already made this artwork his own. We truly hope Gary’s time at Lion Sands has inspired many more artworks that will showcase the wildlife and environment that we are privileged to be a custodian of.”

Follow Gary Davis on Instagram @garydavischarcoal