It’s quite amazing how artists and other creatives respond to the pandemic.
To mark the ten millionth vaccination in the UK, artist Luke Jerram has made and released a glass sculpture of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. He tested positive to Covid-19 in November.
What might usually be considered miniature, or at least small, the 34 cm sculpture is in fact one million times larger than the actual nanoparticle. In a nod to scientific glassware, it’s created from borosilicate glass, the same glass used for test tubes.
To help communities badly impacted by the pandemic, funds raised from the sale of five limited editions of this artwork will go to global charity Médecins Sans Frontières.
“When I created a sculpture of Covid-19 back in March, little did I know I’d later be among those to contract the virus. It’s an awful disease and two months on, my sense of smell is shot, I have tinnitus and still feel tired at times.
“During my recovery, it became clear to me that my next artwork should focus on the vaccine, our way out of this global crisis, as a tribute to the scientists and medical teams who have been working collaboratively across the world to fight the virus.
“It’s brilliant that such effective vaccines have been created in such a short space of time and that here in the UK we’ve been able to role them out so quickly. However, the fight against the disease is a global one, which is why I wanted to support Médecins Sans Frontières, through the sale of these sculptures.” – Luke Jerram