From an interview with world renowned Thai sculptor Sunti Pichetchaikul in the Bangkok Post. Pichetchaikul who now lives and works in the US and has since built a reputation as a master hyper-realistic sculptor. As the paper reports:
He has been the centre of media attention in the US since finishing fourth (third runner-up) from a field of 1,582 artists from 39 countries and 43 US states at the third edition of the prestigious Art Prize competition, held recently in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Asked if he planned any future projects, he responded:
This Christmas I will be unveiling a bronze bust of Jesus of Nazareth from the Shroud of Turin to begin my Legends of the World collection. Following Jesus, I was granted permission to sculpt His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, which I will begin this winter. . . .
I look forward to seeing it! Not long to wait… I hope you will post the followup, since I’m not likely to run across the article unless it appears on CBSNews.com … which it might.