Visual Art

Artist's Statement

The thing that I tried to communicate through my drawing, is that life is different now and people have different ways of coping with that. Some people cope with the situation by taking their anger out on others, while some cope by taking walks, cooking, ect. Getting together with people and finding a way to occupy yourself is different than it was before the virus.The safety protocols taken due to the virus have changed our everyday habits. Before this outbreak, you could go in almost every store, restaurant, or building without having to take any safety protocols. I tried to recreate other people's feelings through my drawing and show that they are not the only ones feeling this way.The reason why I went for the very cartoony look with uplifting colors (besides for the fact that that's the only style I can draw) is that I wanted to relate to other people’s experiences during the pandemic, but at the same time, remind them that it is important to stay positive.

Artist's Statement

By: Nicolas

My work is an attempt to bring up a conversation, about the clashing nature of the different responses towards the novel coronavirus. Is it something bad? Are countries becoming more closed off? Or is the world more united against a common enemy?

The theme of this digital drawing reiterates the ideas from my research that the coronavirus has, in fact, helped bring countries together. Neighboring countries are sharing supplies, working together to safely close borders, and carrying out other acts that show a bizarre new side of politics. This collaboration between countries is because people are highly inclined to following orders and cooperate with new laws and regulations to stop the spread of an enemy of such size. Political debates over border closures, new laws, and such strict restrictions would have taken months, even years to resolve if it were not for the danger that COVID-19 poses.

Looking at the options, I wanted to challenge myself while also not going out of my way to disturb others in making this project. Taking photographs is pretty easy for me, but making a video would require me to have the help of others, and I wished to complete this project without disturbing anyone, thus I decided to make a digital drawing. I never really drafted or made any decisions about the look of the drawing, I simply sat down one day and started making some shapes that resembled hands, meanwhile, my family glanced at the drawing as they were passing by, and they each added little ideas such as the mask on the globe and the color schemes.

Something I really like about this drawing is the nice clean balance of it. It is not overly ‘loud’ in a figurative way, like some other propaganda posters but I see it as though it invites you to read the smaller font. Something I would definitely have changed would be to get started earlier on the project. Drawing the human hands was a big challenge for me and with more time, I think some of the edges would not be as blurry.

Artist's Statement

By: Ayovi

The message this drawing is telling is that people are finding other ways to stay connected with each other in this difficult time. .I decided I wanted to create a person waving hi to someone through a mask. I think the concept is good but I wish I had better lighting and shading skills to sell the idea clearly. Technology is a big part of the pandemic because people who were not big users of it are needing to use it because we are apart and can't have face to face interactions and now realize it's beneficial in many ways like you can connect and meet people from around the world. The intention is for viewers to realize that having a community of some sort during this pandemic is crucial.

Artist's Statement

The message my art piece is meant to communicate is that the coronavirus has instilled fear and loneliness in many people. My claim mentioned the precautions people have been taking in order to keep themselves and others safe, and since that comes partially out of fear, I thought fear was an appropriate theme to show. The color scheme of grey, red, black, and white is meant to be more “horrific” because of the connotations horror has to fear. I also tried layering the colors in a way that is unclean to show chaos, which can and is causing fear in society. I decided to make this piece abstract so people can come up with their own conclusions about what it actually depicts. I think the painting looks decent, but if I could change anything it would be the left side of it because I don’t think it gives off the “vibe” I want the whole piece to have. The bottom half of that shape doesn’t hold the same messiness that the rest of the piece does and appears smoother, so it doesn’t look like it belongs. Although I had a specific picture of this piece in my head, it doesn’t outrightly look like that, and viewers are meant to and are free to associate whatever they like to it.

Artist's Statement

By Grace

The art piece communicates the effect of social isolation on students, particularly younger ones. My research showed that coronavirus threatens the overall stability and development of students. To portray this idea, my project shows a child looking out of a window in a dark room. It was meant to convey how difficult and ineffective remote learning can be for young people when more of their work is done individually. This is not regarding how well students are absorbing content, but more about the actual learning process. Simply being in an environment such as school that forces students to interact and collaborate with others has been proven to be an integral part of the behavioral and cognitive development process. This is why extensive periods of social isolation such as the one we are experiencing now could have repercussions in the learning of students.

I decided to create this picture in particular because I wanted a simple way to express the overall situation of remote learning for young people. My favorite thing about this piece is how these few uncomplicated images convey a complex underlying issue. My intention for viewers who see this piece is to shed light on the potential consequences of coronavirus that go beyond health and wellness.