BONDLEIGH artist Andrew Sinclair, in the midst of creating a tribute to musician David Bowie, has revealed the sculpture would be multifaceted to reflect the many personas of the iconic star.

The bronze sculpture, named Earthly Messenger, will be unveiled later this year in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire — the town where the singer launched two of the most iconic albums of the 20th century.

Plans were given the go-ahead for the tribute to be put in the town centre where Bowie, who died of cancer last year at the age of 69, performed the world debuts of both Ziggy Stardust and Hunky Dory.

Funds for the statue were raised through a £100,000 crowdfunding appeal.

Andrew, the co-owner of The Sculpture School in North Tawton, was commissioned by lead campaigner David Stopps to design the artwork.

Featuring two main figures, the sculpture shows a likeness of Bowie in 2002 looking down at Ziggy Stardust, alongside some of his other looks from across the decades.

‘The older and happier man looking down at Ziggy Stardust expresses the exuberance of youth,’ explained Andrew.

‘The inspiration comes from the many eras of Bowie. Everyone has their own image of him, whether that’s him performing as Ziggy, or as Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth.

‘I researched many sculptures of famous musicians and a lot of them were statues with the singer holding a guitar or microphone. For me, this felt over-done, and for someone as miraculous as David Bowie, I wanted to create something special.

‘Bowie is an icon who has created so many different personas over the years. Each generation remembers him differently — hence why I am creating more than just one figure.’

When completed later this year, speakers will be mounted above the life size artwork and will play one of 2,000 tracks every hour.

The sculpture is proving to be a potential global tourist attraction due to fans donating money to the project from as far afield as Hong Kong and the US.

Andrew said: ‘It will become a pilgrimage point, where people all over the world would come to see this statue. I am so humbled by the opportunity to have my work seen by so many people.’