Michael Guran

Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino, died in Kenya in 2018. Maddeningly, poachers ended a chain of evolution millions of years old. Making a memorial lightened me. Unlike plaster or stone, concrete cannot be fine tuned after casting. The rhino is a force to be reckoned with, and cast concrete has the strength and permanence  to evoke the rhino’s armored charge.

Two female Northern White Rhinos remain, and sperm from Sudan has been preserved. Male rhinos have to fight and defeat females in order to mate, but Sudan was overpowered and had to be isolated for his safety. Beloved by rangers he was caressed at the end.