Beached

Pandemic Series, Cast driftwood and objects in Jesmonite, bandages & red acrylic, 45 x 45 cm, £1650

Cast driftwood is symbolic of my feeling beached/stranded during the COVID-19 lockdown. Driftwood, like the virus, returns in waves. Fragmented doll parts represent depersonalization, and the lack of agency caused by being told to stay indoors. Cast arms reference both the instruction to continually wash one’s hands and the inability to embrace. Femurs represent mortality and our human vulnerability. The sculpture is held together with bloody bandages reflecting the harm the pandemic has caused humanity. They also reference Florence Nightingale, the British National Heath Service, and the new Nightingale hospitals. The driftwood is arranged in a COVID-19 formation and rendered meat-like—a reference to the Chinese wet markets where the virus allegedly originated. In electron microscope images, the virus is often red, symbolic of danger. The entire sculpture is invaded by bats, the virus’ supposed vector. 

 The Pandemic Series is an autobiographical body of work created during the March-August 2020 COVID-19 Lockdown in the United Kingdom, and reflects my isolation as an immunocompromised artist and medically retired doctor. Only materials found in my own home were used in the creation.