On March 13, 2020 the State of New Jersey went into pandemic lock
down. Everything that was not an essential service like a grocery store
or pharmacy closed. The classes I was to teach, the conference I had
prepared for were all cancelled. Disruptions in the supply chains caused
shortages of basic supplies. Worse than all of this was that people
started dying, very quickly, at an alarming rate. Add to this a blatant
disregard to take this situation seriously by the federal government,
and the smoldering powder keg of the Black Lives Matter movement and
2020 was a recipe for sickness, violence, death and economic and social
disaster. It took several months for me to wade through my paralyzing
fear, despair and sadness to feel creative, and even longer to respond
creatively to the crisis. Three prevailing sentiments were the current
that ran through my pandemic life: Mourning for what was lost; Nostalgia for what used to be and Rage at events over which I have no control. Beginning in July I made a series of artworks to address these issues.