Soldered brass, 16 x 5 x 8, 2008.
The Bull Buster (2008) is a dynamic, narrative-driven equestrian assemblage in soldered brass that subverts traditional Western frontier imagery through surreal, cross-cultural juxtaposing. The sculpture depicts a hatted cowboy or frontiersman straddling a rearing, wild elephant instead of a bucking bronco or rodeo bull. Through this absurdity, the piece subverts classic heroic myths of American rodeo and imperial conquest, reimagining the violent act of “taming the wild” as a theatrical, almost mythological spectacle.
Created in the immediate wake of the 2006–2007 Edmonton public art controversy surrounding the artist’s Ganesha sculptures, The Bull Buster (2008) is a scathing, satirical assemblage in soldered brass that dismantles frontier mythologies. The work depicts a cowboy drawing a cavalry sword across an elephant’s throat, from which thin metal rays of blood erupt. This brutal act directly references the mythic origin of Ganesha—where Shiva commands his followers to behead an elephant to provide a new head for his son—while simultaneously subverting the classic Western “bronco buster.” The title operates on a biting double entendre: playing on a “bull” elephant, and “bull” as an explicit rebuke to ideological nonsense and public censorship.
