Maurice Bliks' Second Breath

Maurice Blik was born in Amsterdam in 1939, and “was face to face with the questions and choices that philosophers, artists and religions have left unanswered.” Blik was the only holocaust survivor in his family as a child. For forty years, Blik had a dark and pessimistic view of humanity after what he had experienced, yet remained silent on the subject. By the 1980’s, Blik had begun expressing himself through sculpture creation and other forms of graphic art. Later on, he progressed to figurative work in which he created Second Breath. After escaping the holocaust, Blik made this sculpture as a representation of himself and the second chance of freedom he felt once World War II was over. It was first created in clay and then cast into polyester resin. On top of the creation of his own work, Blik was invested in an extensive career in Art Education. He taught Primary, Post Graduate, and virtually everything in between. However, by the time 1991 rolled around he had given up teaching to invest his whole self in the creation of sculptures. By 1996, he was  elected “President of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.”

Second Breath represents redemption, freedom, the human spirit, and second chances. The man represented in the sculpture has his hands out, head towards the sky, and back arched as if he is taking the deepest inhale humanly possible. It gives off so much happiness and joy in the most raw, humanistic way possible. The man is naked, which also reiterates the fact that he could not be happier, yet all he has is the new location he has found and the body that got him there. I believe second breath represents the resilience of the human spirit. Blik had lost his family, been completely dehumanized and tortured, then left to deal with the pain alone for twenty years. Nonetheless, he was able to create a life for himself and a sculpture with so much energy and love for the world. Blink created the man to be thin and frail looking to reflect the pain and suffering that he had previously gone through. Overall, I think the style and materials that Blik chose to create Second Breath perfectly fit the theme of freedom that he was aiming to achieve. 
I find Second Breath beautiful because I think it represents the most hopeful, inspiring, and beautiful side of humanity. As we all know, people can be dark and selfish. Humans can be so filled with hatred that it taints the people around them, diminishing hope for the future of our world. Second Breath Captures the side that keeps people going. It’s the hope and love that I believe will always be in the human soul, and I find it especially meaningful after knowing what Blik had gone through when he was a child. I also love the abstract style used, but still very easy to understand what he is.