ARTIST: ELYSÉE KALUNGWE
COUNTRY: ZIMBABWE
MATERIALS USED: ACRYLIC PAINT on WATERCOLOUR PAPER
The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is the defining global health crisis of our time and the greatest challenge we have faced since World War Two. As an artist, it is my role to talk about things like this pandemic.
In this work, I paid homage to Li Wenliang. He was the first Chinese doctor who tried to warn about the coronavirus outbreak.
I tried to show how the economy is drowning by painting money underwater.
People fear the spread of the coronavirus will destroy economic growth and that government action may not be enough to stop the decline.
On the center of my painting, I painted a desperate nurse with tears in her eyes and light on her forehead to show that this is the best time to look upon our consciousness and to change the way we think. The rose on her side, means nurses and doctors desire roses for their incredible courage. I painted the coliseum upside down below the nurse’s mask to remind what many people felt when Italy recorded 627 people killed by the covid19 in twenty-four hours. The scary part was that, Italy is in the top teen developed nation in Europe! What about a vulnerable country like D.R.Congo? Which is where I come from.
Somewhere in my painting, I painted a soccer player sitting on the ground and has no one to play with. I wanted to show how COVID 19 has affected sports. As the virus spreads across the globe, sports bodies are canceling or postponing events. Football has not escaped the effects of the covid19 pandemic.
In this work, you can see animals stepping out of their zone and going to the urban world.
If you look closely on the animals’ side the fence is cut. I want people to see how Nature has hit the reset button since humans activities have reduced and how the pandemic freed animals from us.
I painted a family watching a movie night on Netflix. Not everyone is lucky enough to be surrounded by family right now or even have a safe space to retreat. I want to tell people this is the best time to build stronger bonds with their loved ones.
