COVID-19 Art

Hope_Is_All_2500-864x1024.jpeg

Title

COVID-19 Art

Catalog Entry

Artwork has been a very important component during these uncertain times of not only the pandemic but also the year 2020 in a whole. Art has become so important because it is a form of expression, especially during this exhausting year that has just passed. Harvard University started the “COVID-19 Community Archiving Project” where students and members of the community were able to submit art or anything that had significance to them during the pandemic. The artifact I have chosen is a piece submitted from a Harvard student, named De Nichols, who created this piece in memory of a friend who had passed from COVID. There are many aspects of this piece that have such a deeper meaning when looking thoroughly at it.

Harvard created the “COVID-19 Community Archiving Project” so people within the Harvard community could express themselves during these tough times. This project contains so many artifacts so that people hundreds of years from now can look back on. It is an educational tool for the future generations. Each artifact that was submitted correlates with that person's personal experience. Students, Staff, and alumni of Harvard all have the opportunity to share their journey during the pandemic. People were able to submit artwork, videos, poems, and more. Many schools have given opportunities for students and others to share their experiences somewhat like Harvard has done. For example, I am currently a freshman student at Fitchburg State University and I was able to participate in a project called the “Fitchburg Historical Society 2020 Letter” This project is where students were able to write about how the year 2020 affected them. All of the submissions are from the community of Fitchburg, Massachusetts and will soon be artifacts for the future to read.

De Nichols is a student at Harvard Graduate School of Design and is the one who created and submitted this piece of artwork. She made this piece to honor her friend that died due to being infected by covid. The woman in the artwork is wearing a mask and sadly passed from COVID which is directly correlated with the topic of covid. But the quote on her shirt also has a very deep meaning that can be connected to COVID and other topics such as Black Lives Matter movement. I think this is a very unique piece, Caroline Enos stated in her Boston Globe article that, “The piece has also been printed out and displayed on one of the windows of Harvard’s Science Center as part of the Windows at Harvard public art project.”(Enos) It's so great that people have exposure to this piece, and knowing many people will perceive it differently.

Firstly, to describe this touching piece of art, I would like to touch on the colors used. There are 2 vibrant colors orange and pink which are found in the woman's mask as well as her shirt. There are also 2 dark colors in the background and also the women's complexion. Different colors can have a lot of significance in someone's artwork. Although it is not exactly known why De Nichols chose the colors she did, the colors do have their own symbolism. Pink can symbolize love, carining, and acceptance. Orange can symbolize energy, warmth, and balance. De Nichols could have chosen these colors because she thought they were a good representation of his friend who unfortunately passed. The darkness of the background might not have had a specific meaning. But by using the navy blue background it allows the orange and pink to pop even more.

Having such bold colors really catches the viewer's eye. By having the shirt orange it draws you in and when you look closer you can see there is writing on the collar. The collar says “Hope is all many of us will have left” Having this quote on the collar really adds a whole new level of meaning behind this art piece. This quote describes the year 2020 very well, because for a lot of people, hope was all that they had left. The United States suffered greatly due to COVID-19, people lost their jobs, as well as many other important items, such as their home. The pandemic caused a great increase in homlessness in the United States, and even more so affected people of color. Jachova Williams states in an article that, “In April, Black workers' unemployment rate was 16.7% compared to a rate of 14.2% for white workers.” (Williams) So I think the quote “Hope is all many of us will have left” can also correlate with the Black Lives Matter movement that was occuring during the pandemic. Both the artist,De Nichols and the women in the art piece are both of color and can relate to both of these events that will go down in history. The year 2020 stripped so many things away from people and hope was really what everyone had left. Hope that life can get better and return back to normal.

This piece has so much meaning behind it. Not only is this a remembrance of a friend that passed due to COVID-19 complications but it also has another meaning behind it by using a quote about hope. To me this art piece can not only fall under the COVID topic but also Black Lives Matter. Although it is unfortunate that this pandemic had to occur and put everyone's life to a halt we are able to create artifacts and history. There are many organizations and schools that are creating projects based around the pandemic so in the future others will be able to learn about what the people of the United States had to go through. Such as stated about Harvard and Fitchburg State university are 2 of many schools that are creating artifacts. The year 2020 as well as COVID-19 will never be forgotten, and we are currently living through a pandemic that will become history. Which is very amazing to think about. This piece by De Nichols matches perfectly with how the year of 2020 happened.

Bibliography

“19 Community Archiving Project.” COVID, The President and Fellows of Harvard College , covid19.archives.harvard.edu/

“Color Symbolism and Culture.” Symbolism of Color: Using Color for Meaning, Incredibleart, www.incredibleart.org/lessons/middle/color2.htm

Enos, Caroline. “What Was It like to Live through the Pandemic, Grandpa? University Archives Seek Items That Capture COVID-19 History - The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com, The Boston Globe, 26 June 2020,
www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/26/metro/what-was-it-like-live-through-pandemic-grandpa-university-archives-seek-items-that-capture-covid-19-history/

Williams, Jhacova. “Laid Off More, Hired Less: Black Workers in the COVID-19 Recession.” The RAND Blog, RAND Corporation, 29 Sept. 2020,
www.rand.org/blog/2020/09/laid-off-more-hired-less-black-workers-in-the-covid.html

Artifact Owner

Harvard Graduate School of Design Loeb Fellow De Nichols (Artist)

Catalog Entry Author(s)

Sydney Flores, Student, Fitchburg State University

ALFA Mentor

Bill Ayadi

Photographer(s)

Sam Naylor

Citation

“COVID-19 Art,” Cultural Heritage through Image, accessed March 29, 2024, https://culturalheritagethroughimage.omeka.net/items/show/181.

Output Formats