Rustic sculpture of Melania Trump may be a slapstick prank, says Slovenian art gallery

After Melania cake, Melania honey, and even Melania slippers, now a sculpture of U.S. first lady Melania Trump was unveiled near her hometown of Sevnica in southeastern Slovenia on Friday.

A life-size rough wooden sculpture of Melania was commissioned by Berlin-based American artist Brad Downey and carved with a chainsaw by local folk artist Ales Zupevc.

The statue serves as a — perhaps wry — accompaniment to Downey's exhibition in the capital Ljubljana exploring Melania's roots in the small Alpine country.

The sculpture was carved into a tree using a chainsaw and depicts Melania in a blue dress raising her left hand in a waving gesture, emulating a pose she struck at her husband's 2017 inauguration.

"Perhaps we are simply trying vigorously to make sense of things that might only be a slapstick prank," it says in a leaflet. "Who knows?"

Downey said he wanted to "have a dialogue with my country's political situation" and highlight Melania Trump's status as an immigrant married to a president sworn to reduce immigration.

The sculptor, known as Maxi, was born in the same hospital as Melania Trump, in the same month, and now mostly works as a pipe-layer.

"Let's face it," he says in a short film being shown as part of the exhibition, "she owns half of America while I have nothing."

Reuters