Warren

Porky Hefer

2024
Felt, steel, sheepskin
142 x 155 x 180 cm | 55.9 x 61 x 70.9 in.

Edition 1 of 3

From its tassel-covered body and tiny limbs, to its delicately veined ears and pert nose, Warren is handcrafted entirely from felted wool. Here, Hefer has chosen to focus on the smallest and most endangered primate: the bushbaby or galago, also known in South Africa by its Afrikaans name, nagapie (meaning “night monkey”). Found only in Sub-Saharan and East Africa, the animal gets its name from its human-like laughing calls and cries at night. Warren’s predominant feature is a pair of saucer-like eyes large enough for an adult or two children to crawl though. In real life, a bushbaby’s enormous forward- facing eyes are so big in relation to its head that it cannot move them in their sockets. If they want to shift their gaze they have to turn their whole head. Consequently, they can look directly backwards over their shoulders.

Bushbabies’ ears can rotate independently like radar dishes
to focus on sounds from prey, enabling them to track insects
in the dark and catch them in flight. When leaping between thorny bushes, bushbabies fold back their ears to protect them and when sleeping, they flatten them against their heads to help keep their surroundings quieter. Other adaptations include a specialized middle finger that is elongated – similar to a comb
– to groom their fur and extract insects and tree gum. These creatures mark their territory by urinating on their hands, spreading their scent as they leap around tree to tree.