Fort Pierce, Fla. – October 27, 2017 – The Navy SEAL Museum has announced the addition of three new sculptures to its Memorial Garden. World-renowned sculptor Pablo Eduardo is the artist responsible for the life-size statues honoring Navy SEALs and their predecessors.
The statues depict the evolution of Naval Special Warfare, featuring a Vietnam era Frogman, a contemporary SEAL warrior, and a modern canine counterpart. The statues are replicas of an initial project commissioned by the Tip of the Spear Foundation in 2011. With their permission, and under the urging of Executive Director Rick Kaiser, the Museum was granted access to the molds for this new installation. The effort began last year.
“We wanted the sculptures to be accessible to the public,” said Kaiser. “The original sculptures are part of a private collection, assigned to a SEAL Team in Virginia Beach, VA, but the addition of these statues to our property allows everyone to enjoy them. They are now a dedicated part of the Memorial Garden as guardians of our Memorial Wall.”
Made of bronze, the warriors were cast from the original molds. Utilizing a meticulous process throughout, artist Pablo Eduardo was committed from the start of casting to the timeless patina finish, ultimately working at the final installation. His passion is evident in the outcome.
“I am always concerned with the human story, the living entity inside of these things,” shared Eduardo. “The sculptures are based on a collage of personalities. These two are very different. They represent more of a portrait of a group of people, rather than one abstract person.”
When asked what he enjoyed most about the project, Eduardo didn’t hesitate to respond.
“The people. I enjoyed meeting and working with all the [SEAL Team] guys and spending time with them, having access to their stories. I watched them train the dogs so I would have a better understanding of what they do. The more I can immerse myself in the culture, the better I understand the subject matter. This, and I never felt safer with so many SEALs in and out of my studio.”
The sculptures are set outdoors in the southeast corner of the Museum property.
About Pablo Eduardo
Pablo Eduardo’s inspiration to sculpt began more than 30 years ago in Bolivia. His family’s multi-generational artistic lineage laid the foundation for Eduardo to become a prodigious sculptor. From a young age, he was nurtured by the arts. Eduardo fondly recalls joining his mother for pottery classes as a young child, likely the catalyst for awakening his creative drive. He started casting in Bolivia in the 1990s, salvaging copper from keys, phone wire, used gun shells, faucets, pots and pans. Today, as a prominent sculptor, he commemorates his artistic inheritance: his work gives meaning to a sense of permanence, that place we all yearn for, a feeling of “home.”
Pablo Eduardo has a diverse educational background. He attended The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and graduated from Tufts University, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1994. From 1990-92, he completed Anatomical Studies at Tufts University Medical School in Boston, MA where Eduardo learned about the body’s potential for artistic manifestation, and honed his understanding about the human form. Today, he effortlessly unifies the disciplines of art and medicine with an intimate sense of natural dynamism in each sculpture. Eduardo elegantly deconstructs his subjects, resurrecting them in bronze.
