Visual Art
Artist's Statement
By: Carlie Duverglas
I’ve decided to make some sort of story line that would reflect how unreliable sources and news outlets affect how people behave/react to situations like COVID-19. I made four pages which have an important significance to COVID-19. For the first two pages that I have created for my project I started with the idea of using two maps of the US. I then compared both of these maps, one showing how many cases there are in each state versus which state views certain media platforms. I thought putting these two maps side by side would make it easier to see which media platforms each state uses and how that might have an affect on the amount of cases there are in that specific state. Then I moved on to the second page which shows how COVID-19 is affecting everyone and how people are reacting to this outbreak. I drew people running for toilet paper, empty shelves, increasing numbers, and showed how many important items are sold out. I wanted to show how people are reacting to COVID-19 and wanted to think about the deeper meaning. If everything is sold out and prices are increasing for hand sanitizer or masks, it takes away from people who need it, like doctors and nurses.
For my next two pages I wanted to show what we should be doing and how different sources/media outlets affect us. For my third page, I made some sort of comic which shows what we should be doing everyday that should help reduce the total amount of cases. I basically just walked through what we should be doing, but also from my second page this shows what we should be doing instead of going out of control. Lastly, I wanted to reconnect to my main point about credible and reliable sources and how they do impact us in many ways but specifically in this case, because they could cause people to think things that may not be true. I ended with stating three things to look for when reading or viewing different media platforms and articles. I also included a picture at the top which shows that there are in fact more unreliable sources than there are reliable, which I thought were useful to incorporate on this page. Overall, my main focus was to show how unreliable sources can affect us by comparing the amount of cases and media outlets and by showing what can happen after words. Even though unreliable sources are not a direct cause of people overreacting, it is significant.
First Image: is two maps showcasing how many cases there are in each state and the reliable information they each get
Second Image: is showing the causes of what unreliable information can do.
Third Image: is what we should really be doing to prevent this virus from spreading even more than it already has.
Fourth Image: Could be a lesson learned and how to cope with future pandemics and this page shows what reliable sources are and what you should be looking for.
Artist's Statement
By: Zuri Sueksagan Moses
This piece represents emotion. The confusion and intense changes in routine and lifestyle have and can affect people in many ways. Whether it is mentally, physically, or even behaviorally. In such a desperate time a lot of racial bias and disparities have become even more prominent. I used pastels to draw the two faces, one representing looks, while the other represents true, raw emotion. I then used paint to put hand prints, representing the backlash and boundaries made by the people in this country who are in power.
Artist's Statement
By: Chloe Duggan
I drew a picture comparing a plague doctor and a health professional of today wearing a Hazmat suit protecting against Coronavirus. I noticed the resemblance of the protective gear worn during these two pandemics, and I thought I could make art portraying that. This was the only idea that came to my mind, even if I did research regarding the Coronavirus. I remember seeing a meme a while ago, right when the Coronavirus was just emerging, and it had dates in history where every century in the 20s had a virus or epidemic that had started (I don’t know if I explained it right). The meme said how the Bubonic plague started in the 1320’s, which I don’t know if it’s correct, but it definitely made the point unsettling. I also thought this idea would fit well because it has to do with history, and this is history class.
Artist's Statement
By: Maia Feix Reinhart
The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting quarantine has changed our community in more ways than one. Most notably, is that it has changed what we perceive to be important in our lives. This drawing shows some of the things and people that we have come to deeper appreciate, representing each aspect through associated symbols. The topics explored range from feeling isolated from our community to missing an active and intellectually stimulating lifestyle out of the house. In addition, the drawing depicts our awakened awareness of how dependent we are on the workers who provide essential services such as grocery store employees, delivery service drivers and — first and foremost — healthcare professionals. In our current lives, which are mostly online, small acts of physical kindness, such as a high five or handshake, have found a new meaning. The pandemic has redefined the relationship between different members of our community, bringing us closer together, even though we are physically more separated.
Artist's Statement
By: Amaya Fifield
I have decided that I am going to combine my writing and drawing ability for my artistic statement. I am going to use most of what I wrote from the questions in Task 3, because I feel as if I brought up very good points in that piece of writing. I am going to pick out certain quotes from what I wrote and create cartoon drawings to represent each quote and give more life to it.
I want to almost create a short story of what is happening currently illustrating the good and bad sides of this pandemic. I will probably use a piece of paper, not too big, and if I can find a poster board I will use that. I think this will be a creative project for me to do during this boring time in quarantine and it could give me more understanding on what is happening during this historic moment I am living in. I am going to start from the beginning where nobody was taking it seriously, all the way to the present day and just create a small story line. I hope I made a good decision with all of this.
Artist's Statement
By: Hugh Koschwanez
My project is a political cartoon about COVID-19’s effects on restaurants and other small businesses, and the US government’s attempt to save them. It shows Uncle Sam pouring bags and bags of money into a funnel, which showers down money. A bunch of monsters representing large businesses take all the money before it gets to small businesses, which are being shoved into a grinder by viruses.
It was very hard for me to begin this project, as it was overwhelming at first. Eventually, though, I stumbled on a good topic, and conducted an interview with my uncle. Then I had to come up with a creative medium. At first I eliminated art, because the only things I can really draw are monsters. Then I realized that I wanted to portray some big chains as monsters. It was quite simple from there, as I did some doodles and eventually came up with a fun cartoon. I drew the finished product on a 11*17 piece of paper.
Artist's Statement
By: Rosa Boehm
For my project, I chose to paint. It took me the best of two weeks to come up with this concept, which started out as photojournalism and slowly evolved into the image above. My first step was brainstorming. Two weeks ago when this was first assigned, I knew I wanted to do something artistic and I went from there. I was inspired by a print by Nacie Loh, which depicted a group of girls lounging about in the sun. I then took my write up from task three and experimented putting the two together. I tried sketching out trees from my window and took some inspiration from my surroundings (rural Quebec). My second week in, I felt a bit desperate so I looked into photojournalism. My first idea was to take pictures of everyone on devices, however, that seemed way too literal. Finally, I looked at one of my earlier paintings of a small cabin in the middle of the woods. My definition of isolation. That’s how I came to this painting.
When painting, I was feeling a little hopeless given that I had just heard school would not resume for the rest of the year. This made me want to paint something hopeful. The main point of focus is the mood, sort of hiding behind the cloud. Its purpose is to give the viewer hope. For me, I keep hoping that the moon will eventually shine through the cloud giving us a beautiful moonlit night. This is obviously a portrayal for our current predicament...Covid-19. The cloud represents the hardships that come with quarantine and the moon represents the hope that we will all get through this. The rest of the painting is a bit murky and dark which represents the unknown of this mess we're in.
Artist's Statement
By: Gretchen Le Febvre
For the pandemic creative project, I drew a picture to represent my experiences and views, but then duplicated and slightly shifted it, changing the color, to represent my change in perspective.
The initial drawing had many parts. The main focus is a drawing of the sun, that had “IS IT RISING?” written above it. I posed this question as a metaphor to show how we actually don't know what's happening next. Just like you can't tell if that sun is rising. The drawing also contained many small details. One of these was an eye, meant to look like it's been shifting, but that wasn't very well done. The eye is supposed to be the eye of someone watching. On the wall there are different forms of media displaying different numbers related to the pandemic. There is also a dice that has been rolled and landed on a 1. Bad luck. Near the dice I drew a small scene depicting a boat sinking, to represent how the world is generally doing. Through the drawing, I also tried to play with what is a solid surface, and used different colors to highlight so it is unclear what is really the most important. This is similar to how we have discovered the virus does not always attack just the lungs. To finish the drawing, I took a picture of it and edited it using different colors to show how our perspective is changing on this.
This project was inspired by my own change in perspective over the course of the quarantine. Before the quarantine first started, I became obsessed with following the pandemic. I would check every five minutes in classes I could get away with it in. During Synchronized Swimming practice, too. But almost as soon as the quarantine started, I stopped. It was too real. As time went on, my perspective evolved. Two more cases in the U.S. were hardly noteworthy. My sources updated and gave me more and more detailed information: How many hospitalized, how many got tested. This change inspired my drawing, and how it also shifts.
Artist's Statement
By: Luc Marinovich
I tried to show that through all the bad stuff like society falling apart and people dying or losing their jobs, there is another good side to all of this and that is the effect on the environment that can be seen once people are forced to stay at home. For the first time in forever the skies are clearing up/have cleared up in major cities and countries such as in China and New York.
As you can see in my art, there are several cracks in the earth which signifies society cracking and falling apart, which means people are having a really tough time right now. But it also shows the cracks becoming bigger and displaying good things that have happened to this earth in the meantime.
Artist's Statement
By: Abe Zeger
For my creative medium, I chose to draw a picture. In my picture, I drew a line through the middle of the paper. On the left side, I drew my representation of society before the pandemic. On the right side, I drew my representation of society currently in the pandemic.
While starting my drawing I didn’t have a clear view of what I wanted to do. However, when I looked out the window at the street, that normally always has a person jogging or a car driving, nobody was there; it was like it was deserted. That gave the idea to create a drawing showing a “then and now” display of society when it comes to the pandemic. The message that I was trying to show in my drawing was that while both sides look very different, no matter what happens, you will always be you.
Artist's Statement
By: Saniyah Khalifa
In the past week I interviewed a really close friend from the UK and she had a different experience on what I am experiencing over here in the USA. When I interviewed my childhood friend to see what's up in the UK and see what her experience was like she was like it's not as bad as other countries' racism wise because she has not seen many racist comments or posts on social media or in real life which is a good thing. Something that surprised me was how the government is building new hospitals to take more people which is a good thing because of how fast the virus spread from people to people.
Artist's Statement
By: Nadisha Chowdhury
For my project, I decided to make a drawing dedicated to all the doctors who are risking their own lives to help save patients from the coronavirus. I feel like during this difficult time, we should appreciate our healthcare workers who are trying their best to save as many lives as they can. Doctors and healthcare workers deserve the recognition for their work and the risks they’re taking. I wanted to show my appreciation towards the doctors and this is the idea that I thought of. This drawing is my way of conveying the message of our current pandemic. When I think of the coronavirus, the first thing that pops up in my mind is how all the doctors who are saving many lives, know the danger of this virus. They know that they’re vulnerable towards the virus, but that doesn’t stop them to help their patients in any way.
The project I made took a while to do. The process of making this artwork was kind of complicated for me. I had first brainstormed that I wanted to draw different kinds of doctors standing near each other with a banner saying thank you below them. I started off with a messy sketch that showed me what I was going to ink. The sketching part was a bit difficult for me to do because I’m not really good at drawing people. After I finished the sketch, I drew the official line art for my project, which didn’t take as long as I thought. Finally, I decided to color my art. The coloring part was the hardest part to do in this project. I had used copic markers to color my art. The copic markers are really difficult to use, since the markers alway go through the page I’m using. In total, that’s my whole artistic process for my project I did for this pandemic.
Artist's Statement
By: Rayn Kahn
Above there is a boy looking out of a window. He is wanting to attend school and play sports outside. He wants to spend a nice day outside with the beautiful weather. Due to COVID-19, the boy has to stay home and has to stay safe with his family. He cannot go outside to risk himself getting COVID-19. All sporting events are closed, which he enjoyed watching. His soccer season got cancelled because of the virus. All there is left to do is stay home and be patient.
I drew this because this is what is happening in the real world. I can relate to this picture a lot. I am missing out on my favorite sport’s season, and I can’t watch it either as all the sports leagues cancelled their season, as well. I decided to make a boy look out the window because people need to stay inside and not risk or spread the virus. People need to stay home and keep a distance from each other. That is what the boy is doing, he is staying inside and being patient until it ends.
Artist's Statement
By: Gray Bittker
For this project I decided to try something new and make my final project be more on the artistic side. After a lot of thinking, I decided to make a sort of political cartoon about Coronavirus and how people are not staying at home because my research had shown that this was a pretty big issue. To make the actual drawing, I used ovals and squares and rounded them out to make a general silhouette in pencil, and then I added details. Once I had something that I thought represented the issues I wanted to address, I highlighted in pen and erased the pencil.
My final image, which is attached to this assignment, is Dr. Fauci yelling through a megaphone at a guy on his phone. Something I decided to add because of recent news stories was the troll face, because I think it shows how the public doesn’t really care anymore and think they are special for endangering the lives of others. I think that the megaphone is really powerful symbolism for the mediums through which the doctors have to talk to actually get attention, and the fact that the guy is walking right into the doctor shows the absolute disregard for the rules and regulations of quarantine.
Artist's Statement
By: Analia Fister
Specifically, my art piece was a drawing of a virus with life in its shadow, trying to signify that there is a bright side to quarantine. Personally, I hate my art piece, but that’s just me. I don’t really have an artistic process. Sometimes I think about what I want to draw, other times I just draw it without thinking about it. Planning the artwork often somehow makes it worse.
Artist's Statement
By: Sasha Henry
In this painting, there are two buildings along a street. The taller building seems to be overpowering and towering over the smaller one. This was drawn like this on purpose to make it seem like the tall one has more power. The colors of these buildings play into the meaning as well. As you can see, the taller one is white and the shorter one is black. This is supposed to represent how during this pandemic, and not only during the pandemic, but throughout history, white Americans try to find a way to increase their power and make the opposite race, African Americans, seem lesser and powerless.
After slavery and during the Jim Crow laws in the 1930s, a series of bills called the New Deal were passed to help with the recovery from the trauma and poverty. Relief money was sent to state governments from the federal government. However, the money was then handed out to white people creating an economic gap between the races. There has been talk recently about sending relief money to the state governments to help people in poverty, but citizens are concerned that something similar to the New Deal will occur. Therefore, the buildings represent how white people overpower and oppress African Americans even in tough times, such as this pandemic.
Artist's Statement
By: Prionti Talukdar
Basically, I did a before and after coronavirus for two different scenarios. To start off, let's start with the supposed lion in the before picture. The lion is behind bars because the lion is trapped for entertainment purposes and doesn’t live it’s life to the fullest. Now in the after picture, the lion is free, wandering around living its life because of the virus which allowed certain animals to roam freely instead of being caged up all day. Animals finally get a chance to breathe. Now, for the second pic in the before, it is noticeable that there is an absurd amount of people roaming the city daily, which causes human pollution which has a very negative effect on the earth and its health. In the after picture, with the coronavirus, there is no one on the streets which decreases human pollution which keeps the earth and its environment healthy.
Artist's Statement
By: Anonymous
These pieces are a tribute to the essential workers. The ones putting themselves at risk to keep the world running. The ones that aren't getting the support or resources they need to stay safe and yet still go into work. (I tried to convey this in the first and last pieces). As well as, those who have been severely hurt by the virus. (I tried to show this in the second piece).
A lot of what I made was based off of photos, so my credits go to:
Shayne Robinson who documented the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa.
Jesse Costa who documented the COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts.
Alberto Giuliani who documented the nurses and doctors working during COVID-19 in Pesaro Italy.
Artist's Statement
By: Jasmine Castle
My art will show how people overreact to the pandemic and why their overreacting can be bad. I chose to do this because I feel like because of the time we live in now everyone is super focused on all the negatives about the pandemic.
I made a comic strip showing someone overreacting when their friend sneezes near them because everyone just assumes that if someone is sick they have coronavirus when it could be the flu or seasonal allergies.
Artist's Statement
By: Makeda Asnake
So, at first, I had a debate on whether I should do my art project more on fasting (55 days of lent) or weight loss journey (my journey to becoming fit although I do eat quite a lot of junk). I asked my mom and sister, and they said do the weight loss journey because I had already done my review and drawing of it anyways.
So, this weight loss journey makes me feel more confident of who I am because I want to change the type of personality I have now to improve myself as a better person but stay being clever. The art process is going pretty well because my drawing skills have really improved. Although my family makes funny jokes about me, they still support me and are always by my side which makes me feel overjoyed with love
