The Peeing Boy

When will it end? The painting The Peeing Boy is an answer to this burning question and the result of accumulated frustration with the events of recent years. As a child, I dreamed of one day seeing the Great Wall of China, but with age, this dream turned into doubt. China has become a symbol of a lack of freedom and the place from which a virus spread throughout the world, fundamentally changing all our lives.
The central figure, created in my signature tangram style, refers to the famous Brussels statue of the Manneken Pis. In my version, however, this figure—decked in the colors of the Chinese flag (red and gold)—is "relieving itself" in the form of yellow stars. It is a symbolic cleansing, an expression of helplessness, and an ironic commentary on a situation that trapped us all in uncertainty. Yet, the painting is not directed at the people—I still carry the memory of a Chinese family from Karlovy Vary with whom I was once friends before time and distance pulled us apart.