This publicly viewable artwork is a unique sculptural intervention-hand-crafted in bronze, meticulously hand-painted, and finished in aluminium. Conceived from both an aesthetic and protective instinct, the commission asked for a pair of sculptures that could “face” in two directions at once: beautiful guardians turned inward toward the home, and darker, more defiant figures confronting the street.

Responding to this duality, Job Smeets designed two double-sided pillars: Bambi and a clown mask welcoming the residents, while a doberman and a wild boar stand sentinel toward passers-by. As Smeets mentions, “Anyone who simply drives by will see it whether they want to or not.” The work’s presence begins long before the material process: “Of course, it all starts with the drawing,” he describes, “but then you have the expertise of the sculptors, the painters, the polishers.”

For Smeets, the project fulfills a range of artistic impulses: the urge to fashion sculptures of real material weight but also the desire for a public encounter-“to be present in the public eye, so that it’s for everyone. Even for the dogs walking by, the children; it’s almost a kind of bizarre gesture.” Wholly site-specific and tailor-made for its very location, the work personifies the artist’s belief in total, tailored creation. As he himself says, “You know, it’s just a kind of masterpiece, isn’t it?”