The Little Mermaid... of Folkestone: Mother-of-two chosen as nude model for copy of Copenhagen landmark

Last updated at 6:54 PM on 24th June 2011

A bronze statue of a mother striking the same pose as Copenhagen's landmark Little Mermaid model has been unveiled at the start of a seaside town's arts festival.

Georgina Baker, 38, was chosen from a shortlist of 50 people to model for the £25,000 nude statue which has been installed at Folkestone harbour in Kent.

The statue, by Turner Prize-nominee Cornelia Parker, was created after Mrs Baker responded to an advert dropped through 20,000 letterboxes in the resort requesting a model.

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Georgina Baker, 38, was chosen from a shortlist of 50 people to model for a £25,000 nude statue replica in Folkestone of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen

Double take: Georgina Baker, 38, was chosen from a shortlist of 50 people to model for a £25,000 nude statue replica in Folkestone of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen

The statue, by Turner Prize-nominee Cornelia Parker, was created after Mrs Baker responded to an advert dropped through 20,000 letterboxes in the resort requesting a model

Strike a pose: The statue, by Turner Prize-nominee Cornelia Parker, was created after Mrs Baker responded to an advert dropped through 20,000 letterboxes in the resort requesting a model

Ms Parker was said to have wanted a robust and 'strong 21st-century woman' rather than a 'stick-thin model' - and Mrs Baker fitted the bill.

Married with two children, Mrs Baker lives in Sandgate and is a keen scuba diver and a qualified interior designer and aerobics instructor who works part-time helping disabled people through physiotherapy.

She said: 'I'm really pleased to have been selected as Cornelia's model and my children are excited that their mum has been chosen as the Folkestone Mermaid.'

Ms Parker said: 'This was not a beauty contest. I was not looking for a lookalike of the idealised Copenhagen mermaid but for a real person and a free spirit.'

The real deal: The artwork is based on Copenhagen's Little Mermaid statue, commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen and which sits on a harbour rock in the Danish capital (pictured)

Georgina captures the spirit of the original mermaid

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Have a seat: Cornelia Parker was said to have wanted a robust and 'strong 21st-century woman' rather than a 'stick-thin model' - and Georgina fitted the bill. The artwork is based on Copenhagen's Little Mermaid statue, commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen and which sits on a harbour rock in the Danish capital (right)

The artwork is based on Copenhagen's Little Mermaid statue, commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen and which sits on a harbour rock in the Danish capital.

Unveiled in 1913, sculptor Edvard Eriksen asked his wife Eline Eriksen to pose for the body, while its head was modelled on ballerina Ellen Price who declined to pose nude.

The Folkestone statue is one of 19 commissions for the three-month Folkestone Triennial arts festival, described as one of the most ambitious public art projects in the UK.

Artists have been invited to develop new works for Folkestone's streets, squares, beaches and historic buildings to create a contemporary public art exhibition.