Looking Back, Looking Forward: Art in Response to Covid-19, One Year Later

“This work is part of a project that visualizes issues of stereotyping, discrimination, and consumerism. Each image represents a specific case or event."

"This is a digital Zine project I made as a personal archive/diary during shelter-in-place. Right now, we live in an infinite present. Every day is the same, no plan for the future, no tomorrow. In order to record this unique period of time, and regain mindfulness of present, I collected mundane objects, which could remind me of what happened on that day. I set up a ritual for myself. Every night, I used a home scanner to scan the daily object and drawing, sealed the objects in a zipper bag, and took a photo of it. Then, I edited materials into this 22-page Zine, which covers 9 days of my visual archive. This personal record also reminds me how much of a blessing it is to have this ordinary life in this uncertain time."

“This is a sketch painting for a future, larger mixed media piece exploring the impact of mass media on the public perception of traumatic events. It was made in mid-May 2020 using acrylic paint, paint marker, and marker.”

“In 2019 and 2020, a large number of unthinkable disasters occurred in just a few months, including, just to mention a few, wildfires to locust plagues, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Some people anxiously blame these disasters on different countries or populations, but in fact we are all in this together. No one can be independent of these disasters. We either help it or exacerbate it. When a ‘Victim’ takes away all the resources, there will be ‘Perpetrators’ struggling because of the shortage of resources.”

"I wrote A Letter to My Life, a poem, for my journalism class in response to my emergency departure from the US. I had to leave under similar circumstances before, after my first semester in college, due to the economic crisis back in 2014. I came back in 2020 at the age of 25 to continue pursuing what I thought was right for me, and then COVID-19 happened, and I had to leave again. I wrote this letter as an expression of the feelings I have for the life that was right for me but I had to leave it. This film and accompanying poem are intended to emphasize small things that are missed and that this isolation will eventually end."

“These images show the bold and aimless exploration of a girl who takes advantage of the boy she love’s absence to sneak into his house and help him clean up, while also curiously observing the details of his life.”

" These are some illustrations of an in-process animation film. It is a story about a day of an international student, Yin, who is on her OPT session but got laid off for the virus lockdown. She lost her job and legal status living in the States, but she cannot buy a ticket home and is stuck in her 50 square meters apartment. There are many international students in Yin's situation right now. They are isolated and anxious; they have lost their sense of belonging and they cannot find a way to go back their home."

"Xenophobic attitudes regarding coronavirus hit on specific stereotypes surrounding Chinese people. To tackle this issue, I created satire posters and a video to demonstrate how Chinese people are treated because of stereotypes.”

"A current newspaper article serves as the backdrop for hand cut block prints of people in my neighborhood. Masks collaged beneath each print show through, representing the bright spirits of our friends and neighbors hidden in their pandemic protective gear. The cheerful colors are a sign of hope. I hope that by distancing and caring for each other we can get through this.”

“Inside is a piece about the strangeness of quarantine, and the stillness of the absurd circumstances we find ourselves in during quarantine.”

“This video is one of a four-part series in which I explore the process of experiencing the self from within, as a defense mechanism after a long period of negotiating identity and responsibility in the context of historic oppression.”

“These are part of a series of journal entry-style poems that were written during the Covid-19 crisis.”

“I am a painter more than an illustrator. My illustration work is political, so as an escape from politics I paint landscapes, still lifes, and self portraits. I like thinking of myself and my art practice as a camera whose lens I turn outward and inward, documenting the boundaries between me and the world. I'm inspired by the isolated people paintings of Edward Hopper and the beautiful flowers and landscapes of Claude Monet.”

“In 2019 and 2020, a large number of unthinkable disasters occurred in just a few months, including, just to mention a few, wildfires to locust plagues, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Some people anxiously blame these disasters on different countries or populations, but in fact we are all in this together. No one can be independent of these disasters. We either help it or exacerbate it. When a ‘Victim’ takes away all the resources, there will be ‘Perpetrators’ struggling because of the shortage of resources.”

“This experimental film uses a mixture of pre-recorded and found footage. With this piece, we tried to emulate what it's like living day after day in lock down with dreams being the main means of escape.”

“I am a painter more than an illustrator. My illustration work is political, so as an escape from politics I paint landscapes, still lifes, and self portraits. I like thinking of myself and my art practice as a camera whose lens I turn outward and inward, documenting the boundaries between me and the world. I'm inspired by the isolated people paintings of Edward Hopper and the beautiful flowers and landscapes of Claude Monet.”

“As of March 2020, Hunters Point has one of the highest rates of Coronavirus infection in the entire city, likely due to its disproportionate homeless population. The Black community has also been disproportionately infected with the virus worldwide, highlighting the echoing impact of racist institutions. Piggybacking on the idea of being overlooked, I opted to go with the often-hyperbolic magazine headline and pulp readers design for this undeniable, yet seemingly ignorable history.” Created for Mariella Poli’s Locality and Global Discourse class.

“The triptych utilizes a well-known WW1 poster encouraging Americans to buy liberty bonds “to-day.” The use of this imagery is meant to be ironic and subversive in that the original painted loaning the government money as a patriotic act, whereas at this moment, the President is himself encouraging premature reopening of the country and brushing off hundreds of thousands of deaths as justifiable for the good of the American economy.” Created for Mariella Poli’s Locality and Global Discourse class.

“A current newspaper article serves as the backdrop for hand cut block prints of people in my neighborhood. Masks collaged beneath each print show through, representing the bright spirits of our friends and neighbors hidden in their pandemic protective gear. The cheerful colors are a sign of hope. I hope that by distancing and caring for each other we can get through this.”

“Cowboy Jesus is a conversation about hermitage, Americana, masculinity and the reverence we adorn to the American cowboy and how maybe it’s all just a bit silly. "

“This performance is an act of reconnecting with the playful nature of self. The isolation established by Covid-19 minimizes dependency on the environment for exploration rather generating introspection to my bodies’ environment and reflection to observe, feel, express, and ultimately accept everything that comes.”