- Keith Tyssen, 90, has been trimming a naked woman’s hedge since 2005
A retired art teacher has been cutting a hedge in the shape of a naked woman outside his house for nearly 20 years.
Ninety-year-old pensioner Keith Tyssen decided in 2005 to indulge his love of sculpture by turning the hedge in front of his house into a naked woman.
The divorced father-of-four, who named her Gloria, said people stop and take photos of the 5ft 5in tall reclining figure as they pass his home in Sheffield.
He revealed that drunk people climb on the sculpture to grope it and some even pretend to have sex with the topiary.
He said: ‘I’m 90 now, but I’m still pretty fit physically, so I’ll keep it going.’
Pensioner Keith Tyssen, 90, (pictured), turned his front garden hedge into a naked woman
The pensioner named her Gloria and said people stop and take photos of the figure when they pass his home in Sheffield.
Mr. Tyssen has been shaping and pruning Gloria outside his home for many years.
-She’s not going anywhere. She’ll just sit there on my wall.
‘The shape is not easy to do, so when I receive compliments, it is very nice to hear them.
‘People smile when they see Gloria and I like that.’
Mr Tyssen explained that he had not planned on a naked woman when he began manipulating his hedge into a slightly larger-than-life woman.
He achieved his figure thanks to his time as an art student, when he completed life drawing lessons, before becoming a teacher.
He said: ‘I started out making a figure of a monster that was head-butting a lamppost at the end of my garden and then it turned into this monster defending a maiden.
‘It developed slowly over two or three years; it was a lot of fun, really.
‘The Lady emerged from my love of visual invention – it’s just something creative that I enjoy experimenting with.’
Mr Tyssen explained that he had not planned on a naked woman when he began manipulating his hedge to turn her into a slightly larger-than-life woman.
Mr Tyssen said drunk people climb on top of the sculpture to grope it, and some even pretend to have sex with the topiary.
The sculpture is even larger than the pensioner himself, with some people climbing onto the topiary and pretending to have sex with it.
Mr. Tyssen has kept Gloria to promote art in the streets
Over the years, Mr. Tyssen was occasionally woken up by drunk people who mounted Gloria and pretended to have sex with her for photos.
This would upset Mr. Tyssen, as it would hurt his figure, but fortunately he has not had any unwanted visitors for a while.
Mr. Tyssen has kept Gloria to promote art in the streets.
He said: ‘As a society we would benefit from having more public art that is beautiful, thoughtful and kind.
‘It doesn’t have to be hilarious, but thoughtful, kind humor is a good thing.
‘People smile when they see Gloria, they don’t laugh out loud but they smile silently, and I like to see that humor on people’s faces.
‘I like having the responsibility of keeping the hedge in good condition. I like participating in the creativity.’
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