Three artists in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe have come up with a project to recycle plastic and use it to come up with life-size wildlife sculptures.

The artists, Methembe Tshongwe, Prince Ncube and Busisani Tshuma, are based at the Victoria Falls Garage in Richmond suburb.

Tshongwe told NewsDay reporters that they collected waste plastics at the Ngozi mine dumpsite.

They displayed their works, life-size images of lions and kudus, along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway.

"People like what we do. They often stop their cars here and marvel while others buy the art pieces for display in their gardens," said Tshongwe, adding that locals constituted the bulk of their customers.

Their concern was that the arts in Zimbabwe lacked full support, with which they could have gone far.

This has seen some locals with international contacts buying the pieces and reselling them abroad for a profit.

The problem could, however, be redressed if artists were adequately resourced. Tshongwe said it took a great deal of time to work on the colourful pieces. He said: "To create a lion, it can take up to one month."

He added that they first make a model of the animal using clay before covering it with molten plastic, which they later remove.

They use wire to work on the feet.

Tshongwe, however, said their works are sometimes confiscated by council rangers as they say that the displays are unlawful.

(Source: Artists create beauty from 'junk' [NewsDay])