We're proud sponsors of the Predator sculpture brought to life by Puppet Place. Read on to find out more about the creative process and inspiration behind the design.
20/08/2025
As part of this year’s city-wide Gromit Unleashed 3 trail, Redcliffe & Temple BID is proud to sponsor Predator.
Predator was brought to life by a team of artists from Puppet Place, including Cat Rock, Ben Mars, Izzy B, and Alastair Fleming. Inspired by classic film Jaws, the sculpture featured Feather McGraw disguised as a shark. You can find Predator on The Square, Temple Quay, from 30 June to 31 August.
We’re delighted to support this year’s trail and the incredible work of The Grand Appeal.
Read our interview below with Cat Rock from Puppet Place to discover more about the inspiration and creative process.
Puppet Place is the home for puppetry in the South West. Based in Bristol’s historic Harbourside, our building at Unit 18 is packed with creative businesses and artists. Established as a charity over 40 years ago to support puppetry practitioners in the region, we are now a thriving community network. Together, we seek to innovate, research, and develop – to nurture new ideas and emerging talent – to further develop the artform of puppetry – and to engage with the public through our work.
Our Puppet Place team have worked in all manner of puppetry, from making to performing, from stop motion animation to giant live puppetry. Our team has worked on projects including Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour, FKA Twigs Tour, Aardman Animations, Dinosaurs live, and many more… as well as being the front of puppetry invocation and technology. We work in theatre, film and wherever you find puppets, and are so excited to be a part of the 2025 Grand Appeal!
Artists involved in this project include Cat Rock, Izzy B, Alastair Fleming and Ben Mars from Black Laboratory.
Puppet Place and Aardman have a long standing history as two of Bristol’s most creative places. Many of the Puppet Place residents have worked for Aardman, helping to build and bring their characters to life, and Aardman has always championed Puppet Place. When we saw that they needed artists to help create these statues for the Grand Appeal, we couldn’t wait to help!
Artist Cat Rock with the Predator sculpture
Because the team was fitting this project in-between their work schedules, everyone did various bits and pieces. Cat originally organised the partnership and discussed the design, and Ben, Izzy and Alastair made the build plan. Izzy and Ben sculpted the 3D additions to Feathers, and Alastair moulded them. Alastair then cast the pieces in fiberglass, and these were then attached to the pre-existing sculpture by Izzy and Ben. Izzy, Ben, and Cat then filled and primed the statue putting in a combined 4 days worth of sanding on the now ever so smooth Feathers. Izzy painted it with a little help from Cat. Alastair and Ben then finished off Feathers after it was lacquered by adding the addition of glass water droplets and an acrylic Mask. It was a great tag team effort!
The Grand Appeal approached us with the design concept for Predator and we then discussed the different ways to approach it. We were really happy to be offered such a classic horror movie reference, known for its famous animatronic puppet!
The 3D accessories for Feathers were achieved by firstly sculpting the elements. The Snorkel, mask, fin and belt were all sculpted on the statue directly in clay and then removed. We then made silicone molds of those pieces and used the molds to cast the pieces In fiberglass. The fiberglass pieces were then attached to the statue using a combination of fiberglass, adhesive, bolts and additional structures. Finally, the joins were smoothed and prepped for the next stage.
We decided to add a thumbprint to the shark fin as a nod to the old school Aardman stop motion puppets, where the fingerprints of the module makers could often be seen. A little Easter egg for those looking!
It means a whole lot! The Grand Appeal raises funds and awareness for such a great cause, and as a Bristol based charity we are honoured to help. We are supporting them through creativity and imagination, making Bristol a more colourful place and connecting with so many other fantastic organisations. Through this we got to work with and meet you all at the BID – a partnership we hope to continue into the future. We feel like we have taken part in a Bristol tradition adding to a Bristol heritage, and we had fun doing it!
Until 31 August, you can visit our sponsored sculpture on The Square, Temple Quay. Snap a picture, admire the work, and get involved in the incredible Gromit Unleashed 3 trail. Don’t forget, there are over 50 sculptures of Wallace, Gromit, Norbot, and Feathers McGraw to discover across the city this summer!
