Giant sculpture by Jaume Plensa unveiled on Rio beach

A giant sculpture of the head of a 14-year-old girl has been unveiled on the famous Botafogo beach, in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

The white 12m (39-foot) tall head made out of resin and marble dust is the latest sculpture by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa.

Entitled Olhar nos meus sonhos (To see my dreams), the sculpture portrays a girl with her eyes are closed.

Plensa says the aim of the sculpture is "to make people dream".

The artist, who was born in Barcelona in 1955, is best known for creating public sculptures on a monumental scale.

His work Echo, on display in New York's Madison Square Park, depicts the head of a nine-year girl seemingly lost in thought.

Another of Plensa's female heads, called Dream, can be seen in St Helens in England.

Olhar nos meus sonhos will be on display on Botafogo beach for two months as part of the public art exhibition Other Ideas for Rio.