A new statue of Nick Cave is set to be unveiled in the small town of Warracknabeal, Australia.

The town, with a population of just 2,400 and located in Western Victoria, are preparing to release their huge bronze statue of Cave who will be holding a touch, mounted on a rearing horse and a single piece of cloth wrapped round his hips.

The reason, of course, is that Cave was born in the town in 1957 and lived there as a child before moving with his family to the slightly larger town of Wangaratta.

The idea, which was first suggested in tongue-in-cheek by former Bad Seeds manager Rayner Jesson, was first mooted in the 90s when the sculptor Corin Johnson had a discussion with Jesson in a London club. Now Peter Loy, who is member of the Warracknabeal Arts Council and fan of Nick Cave, is behind the idea and is preparing to launch a Crowdfunding project to raise the $200,000 needed.

Apparently, Nick Cave himself has described the plans as “a rather beautiful piece of homoerotic art.”

“We started talking about doing a statue of Nick on a horse, a bit Ned Kelly style,” the sculptor told Guardian Australia. “I think Nick was working on the screenplay for the Proposition at the time … so a bit of that vibe going on.

“The design changed a couple of times… There was a lot of humour involved.”

“It’s the first time the project has had the green light,” Johnson added. “Everything seems to be right this time. We’ve been in touch with the local bronze foundry and they are confident that they can do the cast and there’s quite a group of supporters of project in Warracknabeal.

“I’m totally behind it too and am looking forward to sculpting over life-size version. I have spoken to Nick about the current push and he’s very happy about the whole scenario.”