Oleksiy Poda, a sculptor from Poltava Oblast, Ukraine, won first place at an international sand sculpture competition in the Latvian city of Jelgava. His work was recognized by the jury for its original concept and technical complexity, despite stiff competition from other participants.
This year’s competition theme was dedicated to the Jurassic Period, so Oleksiy Poda assumed participants would opt for fairly predictable solutions. This is precisely what prompted him to move away from the classic approach. His work, “Creating My Own Jurassic World,” over three meters tall, combined this year’s competition theme with the form of a LEGO set.
A separate element of the work was the boy protagonist, whose image he recreated using photos of his son. According to the author’s concept, the composition is symbolic — the brick-by-brick reconstruction of “his own world,” with a contrast between the rigid geometry of LEGO and the organic forms of nature.
Weather conditions also posed a challenge: it rained on one of the competition days, forcing him to cover the sculpture with plastic sheeting to protect it from damage.
This year’s festival, according to the sculptor, was particularly competitive. Among the participants was the renowned Latvian artist Kārlis Iele, who returned to the festival after a long hiatus. The sculptor is considered one of the “legends” of this art form.
Oleksiy Poda will now work on a new project in the Czech Republic, where he traveled after the competition.
