Two Paintings from the Covid Lockdown
These two paintings were created during the period when the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill. Through these works, I tried to explore humanity’s relationship with nature and, later, the helplessness that humanity itself was forced to experience.
The first painting is about the human-made forest fires in the Amazon rainforest, with an elephant running through the burning forest as its central symbol. The second painting is titled “Waiting for the Key.”
Although the two paintings are not directly connected, they share a deeper idea:
Humanity has always tried to control nature. Yet there are moments when human beings themselves are forced to stand helpless before an invisible force beyond their control.
The Burning Amazon and the Escaping Elephant
The first painting depicts an Amazon rainforest caught in flames. Intense reds, oranges and yellows dominate the composition, with fire appearing to consume much of the landscape.
At the center of this destruction, a black elephant is running.
The elephant is not merely an animal here.
It is a symbol of nature itself.
When forests are destroyed by human actions, it is nature that is forced to flee from the consequences. The elephant represents the countless living beings whose habitats and lives are threatened by environmental destruction.
The elephant is traditionally a symbol of strength and power. Yet in this painting, even this powerful creature is running in fear. It cannot put out the fire. It cannot save the forest. All it can do is run for its life.
The elephant's movement therefore represents more than the movement of an animal.
It is nature running away from humanity.
The reds, oranges and yellows of the fire represent destruction, heat and fear, while the dark blue-black of the elephant emphasizes the helplessness of nature caught in the middle of this devastation.
From Painting to Animation
The idea behind this painting was later transformed into a realistic-style animation.
In the painting, the elephant's desperate escape and the horror of the forest fire are captured in a single frozen moment. Through animation, that moment becomes movement.
The burning forest.
The desperate run for survival.
The fire spreading behind the elephant.
When these elements begin to move, the painting becomes more than a visual statement—it becomes an experience.
The realistic animation allowed me to express the idea I had originally communicated through symbols in the painting in a more direct and immersive visual form.
The still image captures the moment.
The animation allows us to experience the movement.
“Waiting for the Key”
The second painting is titled “Waiting for the Key.”
Three human figures stand before a collection of vehicles, goods and other objects created by human civilization. They are bound by chains, and a large lock appears in front of them.
The lock is not simply a physical object.
It represents the condition in which humanity found itself trapped.
During the Covid lockdown, the entire world seemed to become a vast prison. Travel stopped. Vehicles stopped. Trade and social life came to a standstill. People were forced to remain inside their homes.
But the people in this painting are not trying to break the lock themselves.
They are waiting for the key.
Who Will Bring the Key?
This is where the central idea of the painting emerges.
During the lockdown, humanity was waiting for a savior.
The world was waiting for scientists to discover a vaccine that could protect people from the virus.
It was waiting for the scientific community to develop effective medicines and treatments.
Humanity was waiting for the “key” that would unlock the closed world and allow life to return to normal.
That is why I titled the painting “Waiting for the Key.”
The people stand without the key, looking toward the sky and waiting.
It is not an ordinary wait.
It is humanity waiting with hope.
The Scientist — The Invisible Savior
During Covid, the world looked toward science with hope.
While doctors and nurses fought on the front lines in hospitals, scientists and researchers worked tirelessly in laboratories to develop vaccines, medicines and treatments.
Millions of people were waiting for the breakthrough that could open the locked door.
This is the meaning behind the symbol of the “key” in the painting.
The key is not merely an object.
It represents knowledge.
It represents science.
It represents hope.
It represents the solution that could allow humanity to move freely again.
The figures in the painting are therefore not simply prisoners in a locked world.
They are humanity waiting for an answer.
The Moon and the Blue Sky
Above the figures is a vast blue sky with a bright full moon.
While the human beings below are confined, the sky above remains completely free.
The moon continues its journey.
Nature continues its rhythm.
Only the human world has come to a standstill.
The sky therefore does not represent despair.
It represents hope.
Hope that the lock will eventually be opened.
Hope that human beings will once again be able to step outside.
Hope that science will find a solution.
Two Paintings — Two Forms of Waiting and Movement
When these two paintings are viewed together today, their relationship becomes clearer.
In the first painting, nature is running away from humanity.
In the second, humanity itself is waiting for salvation.
In the first:
The elephant runs.
In the second:
Humanity waits.
One depicts nature trying to escape the consequences of human intervention.
The other depicts humanity waiting for science to provide a way out of an invisible threat.
This contrast is perhaps the strongest connection between the two works.
Human Power and Human Vulnerability
Human beings have transformed the Earth in extraordinary ways.
We have cut down forests.
We have built cities.
We have crossed oceans.
We have developed technologies that have changed the way we live.
Yet when a microscopic organism brought the movement of the world to a halt, humanity suddenly found itself confined within its own homes.
This was not simply a story of human failure.
It was a reminder of the limits of human power.
At the same time, it was also a period that demonstrated humanity's faith in science.
The people in “Waiting for the Key” are not defeated.
They are waiting.
There is a lock in front of them.
But they believe that a key exists somewhere.
They believe that someone will find it.
That belief is hope.
An Artistic Memory of the Covid Era
Looking back at the lockdown period today, these paintings have become personal artistic memories of fear, uncertainty and hope.
One painting warns about the destruction of nature.
The other records humanity's waiting for a scientific solution.
In one:
Nature runs for survival.
In the other:
Humanity waits for freedom.
The realistic animation of the first painting gives movement to that desperate escape. The second painting represents the stillness that humanity experienced after the world itself was forced to stop.
Together, these works represent two moments of vulnerability from the same period of my artistic journey.
One asks:
“Where are we driving nature?”
The other asks:
“Who will bring us the key?”
Ultimately, both paintings speak of the same human condition:
No matter how powerful humanity becomes, there are moments when we can neither run from the consequences of our actions nor open the door by ourselves. At those moments, what remains is hope, knowledge, science—and the waiting for the saviour who will bring the key.
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