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Rustic Sculpture of Melania Trump Unveiled Near Slovenian Hometown


Life-size wooden sculpture of U.S. first lady Melania Trump is officially unveiled in Rozno, near her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, July 5, 2019.
Life-size wooden sculpture of U.S. first lady Melania Trump is officially unveiled in Rozno, near her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, July 5, 2019.

A life-size rough wooden sculpture of U.S. first lady Melania Trump was unveiled Friday near her hometown of Sevnica in southeastern Slovenia.

Commissioned by Berlin-based American artist Brad Downey and carved with a chainsaw by local folk artist Ales Zupevc, the statue serves as a — perhaps wry — accompaniment to Downey's exhibition in the capital Ljubljana exploring Melania's roots in the small Alpine country.

The blocky, rustic figure was cut from the trunk of a living linden tree — whose base forms a tall plinth — in a field beside the Sava River in the village of Rozno, 8 km (5 miles) from Sevnica.

There is no attempt at an accurate likeness, to the point where the gallery in Ljubljana appears uncertain how seriously to take the statue.

"Perhaps we are simply trying vigorously to make sense of things that might only be a slapstick prank," it says in a leaflet. "Who knows?"

Although the statue's face is rough-hewn and unrecognizable, the figure is shown clothed in the pale blue wraparound coat that Melania wore at Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president.

FILE - President Donald Trump waves as he walks with first lady Melania Trump during the inauguration parade on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, Jan. 20, 2017.
FILE - President Donald Trump waves as he walks with first lady Melania Trump during the inauguration parade on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, Jan. 20, 2017.

Downey said he wanted to "have a dialogue with my country's political situation" and highlight Melania Trump's status as an immigrant married to a president sworn to reduce immigration.

The sculptor, known as Maxi, was born in the same hospital as Melania Trump, in the same month, and now mostly works as a pipe-layer.

"Let's face it," he says in a short film being shown as part of the exhibition, "she owns half of America while I have nothing."

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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