Alumnae Olivia Collins (Graphic Communication and Illustration, 2019) and Lauren Jefferis (Graphic Communication and Illustration, 2020), co-founders of Pickle Illustration, were commissioned to produce 34 larger than life-size fibreglass fox sculptures.
The Fosse Foxes Art Trail has been established by The Crown Estate as part of its £181 million transformation of Fosse Park to showcase the talents of local artists and designers, as well as to reflect the rich diversity of the community.
The alumnae duo worked with 14 groups including Action Homeless, the Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust, and the BOW Young Carers group to produce 14 foxes to be located at Fosse Park. The pandemic dealt an additional challenge as the original plan of hands-on workshops with groups had to be translated into remote activities. A key goal of the project was to make sure each group was included as much as they desired and to showcase them in a way that they would be proud of. Pickle developed a multitude of digital resources to collect and correlate the groups’ ideas, which were then communicated onto the fiberglass foxes.
Olivia and Lauren then took on the challenge of applying digital 2D designs onto the fox shapes, which involved matching the design colours in a usable palette and getting the right equipment for a job. They then spent over a month painting.
The foxes have now been completed and are joined by an additional 11 foxes. They have been installed as part of the public art trail around the shopping centre. The duo have also been working on four murals for the shopping centre.
The fox trail extends into the Blaby District as part of the projects' collaboration with Blaby District Council. A further 20 foxes are distributed around tourist sites in the area. The pair designed a pattern and emblem for each of the 20 foxes, each one unique to its location.
You can read more about this project and the design process in Pickle’s three-part blog.