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Innocent “Supersandman” Zungu has done it again: the gifted sculptor is wowing beachgoers with his latest creation, an incredibly detailed, 4m-tall sandcastle at Strand beach in Cape Town, complete with lights, a pool and a bridge.
“I’m always looking for new ways to challenge myself. I’ve never created a structure this tall,” says Innocent (30), who’s been creating sand sculptures for 20 years.
His love of sculpting started when he was 10 and he’d spend a lot of time at the beach in St Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal, where he grew up.
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Innocent decided that his sculptures could be a way to make money, as it would attract the attention of tourists. Sin
ce then he’s created many elaborate castles, including ones of cars, animals and planes.
“Animals are my favourite though,” he says. “I love making sculptures of them because I love nature and animals remind me of my home in St Lucia.”
Recently he spent an entire day creating the Big Five in sand – a lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and African buffalo.
Supersandman work , next Atma cafe. Please ?? do not forget to like my page and Tag
Posted by Supersandman on Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Sadly, not long after, vandals destroyed his beach art and stole his tools. Innocent explains that he takes his tools home with him – a spade, buckets, water bottles, scraper and spoon – because they’re too heavy.
“I was devasted when my tools were stolen.”
He uses the spade for digging, the plastic spoon to add detail, the scraper for shaping and water bottles to keep his sculptors moist.
Thankfully, a good Samaritan offered to replace his tools, and Innocent thanked him with a life-sized sculpture of a VW Beetle, nicknamed Chucky after the Samaritan.
“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to own a VW. I also made it because I believe it will bring fond memories to people who used to drive them – they often share their stories of driving a Beetle.”
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Innocent has displayed his work in KwaZulu-Natal, East London and the Western Cape. The father of two, who moved to Cape Town because “the sand is the softest and best to work with”, recently located from Muizenberg to Strand, and says the sand is the best he’s ever used.
He survives solely on the donations given to him by beachgoers, and admits that the hard lockdown was difficult for him. Innocent earns about R150 a day, although it can go up to R200 on a good day, he says.
“It was difficult for me [during lockdown] to earn a living but my followers on social media supported me during that period,” Innocent says. “They’d help me financially and would arrange transport for me.”
Here’s a look at some of his beautiful creations:
Hi guys it supersandman here is my previous work I've done. Please click like And please tag me supersandman page Instergram #mansupersand
Posted by Supersandman on Friday, March 26, 2021
