South African fine artist and muralist Sonny has been a champion of the beautiful wild beasts that populate its native land and beyond throughout his career. Lions, elephants, tigers, jaguars, leopards, whales, bears, eagles, and the occasional human. He brings all these creatures to life on walls worldwide with precise and impressive realism, executed to the finest detail. The artist makes it his mission to raise awareness of the plight that many of these animals are confronting to survive in increasingly inhospitable habitats. Humans have been encroaching on their natural territories at an alarming rate – forcing wildlife to subsist in smaller areas at a huge risk to their ability to thrive and survive.
For the Baz-Art International Public Art Festival in Cape Town, Sonny painted a Cape Leopard in response to the festival theme of “100 Sustainable.”
Says Sonny, “For me, this Cape leopard is a symbol of hope, as people are waking up to new ways of approaching conservation that are less about fencing off wildlife in nature reserves, and more about adapting our world to allow animals and humans to safely and peacefully co-exist. We humans are not above nature, we are part of it.”
This year the festival poses a question: How can we answer today’s needs without compromising the world our future generations will inherit?
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