Call to Peace, Living Sculpture
November 2021 – ongoing
Unfired clay, steel, hessian, wood.
Created from unfired clay, this ephemeral work rejects the notions of permanence and traditional understanding of the sculpture. The progressive state of decay and disintegration recounts the passage of time and alludes to the traumas of war. Nina calls this sculpture “live” precisely because it dies eventually.
Sculpted between November 2021 and February 2022, Call to Peace inadvertently took on immediate relevance, urgency and significance when Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, Call to Peace has evolved into a series of installations and a socially engaged public art projects. It is a re-interpreted replicate of an existing WWII bronze monument by the same name, created by Soviet sculptor Valentin Topuridze in 1948. His original sculpture in turn references the Greek Nike of Samothrace. By incorporating this historical reference, Nina urges us to reflect on the lessons of the past and consider the ways in which we can work towards a peaceful future.
Related works you might want to learn about:
Call to Peace, temporary public art
Call to Peace, Anatomy of the Dream
The Theatre of Folly
Photo by Andrew Curtis.