I started this painting on March 15th, 2020. It was completed on April 24th, 2020. Why is this important? The message I was trying to portray when I started on March 15th, the vision in my head of what all the little details in my work mean, have drastically changed to what I have now on April 24th. My beginning intentions were to show how Duke students from all over the world are still connected by their affiliations to the institution while the Corona Virus Pandemic was unfolding. The map was to show what areas were affected and how severe it was. I looked up a map of the COVID-19 outbreak on March 15th, 2020 and this is what I got.
As days went by, working on filling in the white spaces of the canvas, I could hear the TV blaring newly reported cases in states that have been unaffected thus far. I can also hear reporters highlighting how severe it was becoming in states that have already come into contact with the virus. A week or two went by and as my map was completed, I realized in this short amount of time, a week maybe two, that it was completely inaccurate. Every single state should be burned red, the east and west coasts where the virus originated should bleed into the center of the country, showing how millions of Americans have become infected by this deadly virus. But I made the decision to keep my map the way it was, to tell a different story.
Not only has the virus spread throughout the United States, but the other continents shown have seen the COVID-19 Pandemic explode in their cities, countries and provinces. As we know Europe was the first to be hit hard by the virus and that can be seen in this map. Our reality, like so many others, was to follow in Europe’s footsteps, something we tried so hard to prevent, but there is no controlling this virus.
It still holds true that Duke students are connected with each other in these troubling times through Zoom calls, group projects, and study sessions in their homes, but the more important focus in this image is how much has changed in so little time. This virus has swept over our country and many people and families have fallen victim to its horrible effects. Health care workers and essential business workers are risking their lives in these hot red zones to keep people alive and healthy. We have no control over a parasite that cannot be seen with the naked eye, and in the blink of an eye it has covered my entire map with red bubbles without me even stopping to notice.
