Art Exhibitions and Artwork Descriptions

The story of "Frank, Lou, and George."

          In the first week of January 2022, I contracted Covid-19 from Holiday travels. I was vaccinated and boosted, wore masks, and socially distanced, but I still contracted it.  For the first five days, I had a fever and congestion with some chest pain.  My throat was raspy, and it took two weeks before I tested negative.  For the first couple of days, when I felt at my worst, I also felt fear because it was unknown what the outcome would be (I knew some friends and family that did not have positive outcomes).  I did not know if my sickness would escalate, and it was scary.  I also felt anger, to a degree, that I contracted the disease although I tried to follow all the guidelines--vaccinations, sanitizing, masks, social distancing, etc.  What made me angrier, though, were the people who didn't get vaccinated nor follow the rules, yet, some people like this that I knew, didn't contract covid-19 at all.  My suffering made me selfish as I should have been thankful for anyone who is covid free.

          The robots in this drawing are imagery that is a response to the politicization of the coronavirus.  To me, the resistance to getting vaccinated or wearing masks and stopping the coronavirus for the good of society was dumbfounding.  Why is it so hard to do our part?  Meanwhile, while watching the news, anti-vaxxer truck caravans were driving across the nation, and during an interview, a trucker called adherents to science "robots."  They said adherents are robots following Dr. Fauci's commands.  I found their statement very satirical being that they listened to a different person's opinion and adhered to it. From there I created "Frank, Lou, and George," the robot adherents to their cause. 

The story of "Looking Through the Shields."

          This work, "Looking Through the Shields," immediately followed the drawing, "Frank, Lou, and George," as a continuation of the robot theme. But in this mixed media piece, a robot is peering through the shields, at the brain, which is the hub for identity, personality, and the spirit of the robot being. The eyes are projecting from the bottom right robot (in the image), through the centrally located shields, and peering at the brain in the top left corner of the image. The idea is to look past the surface of what we appear to be, but beyond, deeper, into the soul of who we are. The brain is the mind, our identity, personality, and uniqueness.  Each person has an identity deeper than the surface we project. In a world of division, we need to find a way to see each other in a deeper light, past the stigmas, stereotypes, and surface identifications.