Art / public art
Dorcas Casey’s ‘Bristol crocodile’ sculpture unveiled at Temple Quarter
In an official launch ceremony at the impressive new Temple Quarter Welcome Building, acclaimed multidisciplinary Bristol artist and sculptor Dorcas Casey’s family of crocodile sculptures – dominated by a life-sized mother – were unveiled.
Following an open call run by the public art agency Bricks Bristol, the commission was selected from 40 ambitious designs from artists.
Casey won over the panel with her concept for a tactile, life-sized crocodile sculpture resting at the glass-fronted entrance.
Emblematic of the city’s apocryphyal story of a crocodile finding its way into the River Avon, the sculpture represents a playful link between the contemporary and the ancient, and between urban and natural landscapes.
“Crocodiles seem to have overtly resisted change for thousands of years,” reflects Dorcas. “They are like a portal back in time.
Dorcas Casey’s crocodile launch, The Welcome Building, March 1 2025 – photo: Ruby Turner
“I hope that this piece provides a still moment in an ever-changing part of the city. I feel that we have communally conjured up an image of something deep and ancient, a trace of ancestral magic hiding in the mundane and the everyday, just under the surface.”
Integral to the creation of the work was a close association with the local community in The Dings; people whose immediate surroundings have been subject to massive change, years of building work and continuing development around Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.
“In a new city-scape where everything is high and grand,” says Casey, “and commands you to step back and look up, I hope the crocodiles remind you to look down, come closer, pay attention, look back, and think about the undercurrent of human connections, stories, hopes and fears, that shape the culture of this unique city.”
Dorcas Casey and Octavia Casey (lead collaborator) at St Anne’s House, working on the public art programme for the crocodile sculpture commission at the Welcome Building® – photo: Ruby Turner
Dorcas, who herself formerly lived in The Dings, was touched by the heartfelt contributions from nearly 100 local people (and animals) to the series of creative workshops she ran in the early stages of the project.
Together these local hands have elevated the work; it is not only a sculpture, but a shared creation.
Participants were invited to make marks and patterns in clay, some bringing in their meaningful and treasured objects for the task. From trinkets and engagement rings to baby footprints, animal paws, toys and even biscuits, members of youth groups, community associations and after-school clubs worked collaboratively to create a flexible, personalised, textured skin for the crocodile family.
Dorcas Casey working on her crocodile sculpture – photo: Faye Hedges
Working with her sister and lead collaborator Octavia, Dorcas covered these panels with liquid latex, which dried into a skin that could be hand-stitched together over the mother crocodile sculpture – constructed using 600kg of clay over an armature. Then, using polymorph, clay and plaster, finer details including the eyes, teeth and spine were crafted.
A pink silicone mould of the sculpture was made by Castle Fine Art Foundry, from which a bronze-resin cast was made, then pigmented and, finally, finished by hand.
The baby crocodiles were also created from mark-making workshops of Dings’ residents, cast in silicone, and then cast in bronze using a traditional ‘lost-wax’ technique.
An artist’s impression of the Welcome Building – image: Bricks Bristol
“Dorcas has created something really special for Bristol, and a new landmark for Temple Quarter,” remarks Jack Gibbon, CEO of Bricks Bristol, the public art consultancy involved with the project.
“Themes of creativity, climate change, motherhood, modern myth and folklore manifest and intertwine in the artwork which presents as a surprising and intriguing addition to Bristol’s public realm.
“It’s been great to see an artist run with this opportunity so fully and deeply, creating opportunities for local communities to contribute their mark in making something that is greater than the sum of its parts, and takes on a life of its own.”
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The artwork will be on public view from March 2 at the Welcome Building®, 4 Glass Wharf, Temple Quarter. Find out more about the building at www.welcomebuilding.com, or follow @welcomebuilding.
For more information about the project, go to www.bricksbristol.org, and for the artist, visit www.dorcascasey.com or follow @dorcas-casey.
Main photo: Bricks Bristol
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