A life-size wooden statue of first lady Melania Trump has been carved from a tree near her hometown in Slovenia — and some are complaining about it.
Her very first statue in her home country — just outside the town of Sevnica — was commissioned by American artist Brad Downey. It was created by local sculptor Ales “Maxi” Zupevc, who used a chainsaw to create a rough-hewn, peasant-looking character who’s wearing a blue dress, has a flat, nearly featureless face, and is waving. The statue, its creation and Zupevc will be featured in a documentary by Downey.
It’s not to everyone’s taste. One resident told ITV that it “doesn’t look anything” like Melania, adding: “It’s a Smurfette. It’s a disgrace.”
But another told Reuters she liked that Melania was perched up high. “You know what makes her resemble Melania? Look at how high she climbed to the top,” the woman said. “Just like real Melania, who rose to the top of America. A little girl from Sevnica. Hats off to her.”
A local architecture student told Agence France Presse: “If the monument was meant to be a parody, then the artist has been successful. We in Sevnica can only laugh and, at the same time, hold our heads in our hands over their [the Trumps’] catastrophic reputation.”
Zupevc’s only restriction was that his creation had to wear a “dress” the same color as the one the real Melania wore to Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“I can understand why people might think that this falls short as a description of her physical appearance,” Downey told AFP. Still, he declared the carving “absolutely beautiful.”