Premio Combat Prize

The Burning Buddha symbolises the ghost that is left to speak to us of freedom and hope, a ghost that stands for Human Rights and remains a beacon representing the sanctity of life and the value of our beliefs.
“I wanted to call attention to this act of protest by choosing the illuminating death of a small number of people and their need to do something that would call attention to the gravity of a situation that they felt was more important than their lives.”
Within the violence of these flames this artwork is an appeal for peace and stands as a tribute to the search for freedom, both spiritual and physical and the reassertion of the right to self-determination in a spiritual and political sense.
Self-immolation can be thought of as a way of sacrificing one’s self to end all suffering. In that sense, this act transcends the idea of a religious practice or a political statement and becomes a spiritual plea.
This artwork is meant to celebrate a cause, and the will to fight for human rights the world over, to fight against oppression and to exercise the right to speak out for freedom.
Blake Ward was born and raised in Canada, where he received his BFA in 1979. In 1985 he moved to Paris to study figurative sculpture using traditional techniques. He opened his current studio in Monte Carlo in 1991.
Blake’s early work used ancient methods to represent anatomically correct details in the clay sculptures of his live models.
After visiting Asia in 2003, Blake began a series of “de-sculpted” figures called “Fragments, ” followed by his “Rethink” collection, which combined his love for figurative sculpture with a desire for activism.
His latest series, The Spirits, have crossed over into the abstract and ethereal realms where Blake aims for provocative figures who are able to expand the consciousness of our inner selves.