Samvel Budaghyan is a wood sculptor who transforms fallen and dying trees into surreal and abstract sculptures. The artist’s works reflect on the current global socio-economic issues and political developments.
As the artist spent eight weeks in self-isolation during Covid-19 pandemic, he created this sculpture to raise awareness about one of the main reasons why the deadly virus had spread rapidly across the globe. This sculpture is titled ’Ignorance’ and showcases a pair of hands rubbing a stick to spark fire. This symbolises how our lack of awareness and consequently irresponsible behaviors of not following health guidelines fuel the spread of the virus.
While we all seem to be aware of what is happening around us, we are also very much misinformed by the media about the details of the virus. The ignorance can also come from the fear and refusal to believe that an actual pandemic is happening right now and affecting lives of thousands of people worldwide. Because of our ignorance, we fail to respond properly to the developments of the virus and adhere to the health guidelines promoted by the health authorities.
The artist calls out everyone to educate themselves about the virus in these difficult times and to behave responsibly. We need to spend time to make ourselves aware of how we contribute to the spread of the Covid-19 and take responsibility to fight it together.