It took several months for Clay to shape the sculptor of Bay Area with his hands in the likeness of Brona Taylor, which he finished with dark brown satin glaze.
But less than two weeks after Mrs. Taylor’s memorial was erected in the busy downtown plaza of its creator, Leo Carson, of Auckland, Calif.
The sculpture was smashed in several places late last week, drawing widespread condemnation in the community and prompting a police investigation.
In March, police officers in Louisville, Q., arrested a 26-year-old black woman and an emergency room technician, Ms. Taylor was murdered, who still considered the vandalism another crime. With Mr Taylor’s death, including the assassination of George Floyd in late May, there was widespread protest against police brutality and racial injustice.
A plaque bearing Mrs. Taylor’s name and “Say Her Name” was displayed on the front of the demolition site in Latham Square Plaza, near Auckland City Hall.
“I created it to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but it also targets racist aggression,” Mr. Carson said in an interview Monday night.
A spokesman for the Auckland Police Department said in an email Monday night that a police report has been filed in the matter and a sabotage investigation is underway.
Mr Carson, a white man, said he had spent about માટે 600 to build the sculpture, which he placed in a plaza on December 201. He ran the installation for a long time on Instagram, which one person warned he could face backlash. “Pull it down,” the person wrote, “it’s a source of storms.”
Mr. Carson, who visited the Home Depot and Ceramics Studios while making the sculpture, said he was prepared for the possibility of damage to the establishment.
“It was always in my mind,” he said. “I just had a feeling like I had to do it. It didn’t matter. ”
Auckland Mayor Libby Schaff A Twitter post on Monday condemned the sabotage.
“It’s an evil attack on the light + justice sought in the name of Brona Taylor,” Ms. Scaffold wrote. “We will keep moving forward; Auckland will not tolerate acts of hatred. “
Also Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League Condemned the damage to the sculpture.
Mr Greenblatt said on Twitter on Monday that “this act of sabotage is a reminder of Breno, what she presents and disrespects the work of this artist.”
Mr. Carson said he has been delighted with the support of the community and has raised about 000 8,000 on the GoFundMe page in the direction of creating a new sculpture out of bronze. He said he plans to donate the remaining funds to Mrs Taylor’s family.
The three officers involved in Mrs Taylor’s death avoided charges of cow slaughter in September, sparking a new round of protests across the country. A grand jury in Louisville convicted an officer who was fired from his job, putting him at three secondary risk.
Mr Carson said someone on Instagram told him about the sabotage over the weekend.
“It’s not surprising in that sense, but it doesn’t reflect Auckland,” he said.
The sculptor said he quickly went to inspect the sculpture so he could recover the broken pieces, which he said would be repaired and eventually used in the mold for the bronze sculpture.
“Gives her a sense of wholeness again,” he said.
