Sculpture and Self Portraiture

The elephant ceramic sculpture was completed for the sophomore animal project, an assignment to create a sculpture representing a human-animal relationship.

“I chose to put the head of an elephant on a human body because of the traits inherent to elephants that we call inherently human,” Dambra said. “I portrayed it without arms to contrast the image of the god Ganesha, who is attributed with overcoming obstacles. When I was doing research for the project at Seneca Park Zoo, I was struck by the image of these animals behind bars despite their connection to a God with connections to such freedom.”