Hearts

Our art group occasionally suggests a project for the group.  With Valentine’s Day approaching, Barbara suggested “Hearts.”  No one has ever accused me of being overly sweet or sentimental, so I greeted this idea with some skepticism and a slight hint of rebellion.  However, on contemplation and with a desire to be a good sport, I examined my ideas involving “love” in this time of Covid.

Recent news reports showed a grocery store in Florida where no one was wearing a mask.  Everyone was conversing, openmouthed, as if there was no threat of a pandemic.  Even the store owner vowed he would never wear a mask.  How did such an idea become political?

I thought of the doctors and nurses and other health workers who beg the public to comply with mask-wearing in order to slow down the spread of the virus.  Dr. Fauci has said that one should wear a mask for others.  This is the kind of love I am trying to convey with my artwork entitled, “Wearing a Mask for Others.”

My other piece is inspired by an episode of a television show called Independent Lens.  Many creative photographers were asked to record a day (the 4th of July) in the lives of Americans.  There were disturbing segments showing rural KKK members espousing their hatred for immigrants and people of color.  A young girl listens as her father teaches her the delusional belief that America has been, and is, a country for White people. There was a scene of an intoxicated man shooting into the air with a powerful gun.

My 2nd artwork is about black and white, male and female.  It is about Love.