Artist: Steve Winterburn
Dimensions: 96cm x 50cm x 23cm
Weight: 40kg
Edition Size: 8
Material: Bronze on Granite
During the first Corona virus lockdown is when Steve Winterburn started his Instagram account. With everyone stuck at home he had the idea of creating a sculpture based around the virus and get the input of his followers all around the world so that together they could make a “creation from Isolation”. This project really brought a lot of people together and it was great to unite the art community in such a way, it was also very inspiring for Steve to be sculpting ideas from all over the world and not just his own. The following are all the different components that were voted on and incorporated into this surreal and contemporary sculpture.
-The piece composition resembles an hourglass, to show the race against time to find a cure! Also included is the number 8 which has a value in many cultures, like equalisation and you reap what you sow.
– The people walking around the bottom are absorbed in their lives oblivious to what’s going on around them and the threat of the virus. The virus rests on their heads this symbolises how they are carrying the virus and spreading it amongst themselves.
– The base has words inscribed all over it that everyone contributed and voted for relating to our thoughts and feelings at the time. Polls were put out on Steve’s social media asking people to send in words that they would use to describe how the pandemic and lockdown made them feel.
-The keyhole and key are to represent the keyworkers who risked and sacrificed so much for us. This has another twist which is to symbolise the key to unlocking lockdown and the cure.
– The saying hindsight is always 20/20 works to show how one day we’ll look back with a clearer understanding and how we could’ve done things different! This was tied in with the eye in the sculpture and also the year it began 2020; 20/20 vision. Furthermore the original whistle blower from China who tried to warn the world was an eye doctor.
-In the centre is the big sphere which on one side resembles the form of the virus, on the back there is a darker side with a reaper spreading a dark cloud form encasing the sphere to represent covid encasing and locking down the globe. This shows the harsh reality of the pandemic which is the loss of friends, family and loved ones. Breaking out through this darkness is a sunflower which symbolises hope emerging through the darkness and spreading up the piece. Inside of this virus is a family holding each other representing lockdown and how important family and loved ones became in our bubbles helping through the hard times.
-The two figures breaking away represent humanity fighting back against the pandemic. The female figure representing Mother Nature with plants and vines worked in to her being, she is a reminder nature is a force to be reckoned with and that we should all do everything we can to protect the environment. The male figure represents the power of intellect and consciousness, many ancient cultures have similar representations so he not only reminds us of our ancestors but also how our consciousness and intellect helped us to overcome the virus.
– finally, at the top of the piece is a carbon atom, symbolising life; everything is made of carbon, a reminder science will provide the cure.
Price : £15,000
