Works

Cheburashka (2011)

Resin
2500x2500x1500 mm

The sculpture is currently exhibited in the Broomhill Sculpture Park for a year. It represents a gate topped with a large head of Cheburashka, a very famous children’s character of an animated film series from the sixties; it is the Russian equivalent to the Japanese Pokemon or the American Mickey Mouse. Cheburashka is a small and friendly animal, unknown to science but easily recognisable by its oversized round ears. Thanks to its great popularity, it was chosen as the official mascot of the Russian Olympic Team. The gate is here a reference to the Japanese traditional Torii. Commonly found at the entrance of Shito shrines, it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred. My proposal is a reflection on our contemporary understanding of and relationship to the sacred - it might even be perceived as an absurd attempt of re-sanctification of our everyday life. In a profane society, our ersatz of the sacred are often unearthed from the lost paradise of innocent childhood.

The following blog will inform you about the making of the work - http://svetlanak-lie.blogspot.com - and the following website about the Broomhill Sculpture Prize - http://www.broomhillart.co.uk/national-sculpture-prize. And don’t forget to vote before the end of September!