“Quarantine Dress Up Day”

“Quarantine Dress Up Day”
Self-portrait 2020
12”x12” mixed media on wood
There have been several quarantine art challenges that inspired this idea.
The symbolism I worked from is the idea that as businesses start to open back up during these crazy Covid-19 times, leaving the house only feels half normal. Working from home and not getting out so much, just putting on makeup on feels like dressing up. I used to wear big, dangly earrings quite often, but that doesn’t work with a mask. Just doing those things at home once in a while, brings a moment of nostalgic norms. Since 2020 has been full of the unexpected, this piece needed to be different as well. I’ve never drawn on bare wood. As I was planning the piece, I thought I would paint the background a vibrant color, but then I started to like the simplicity of how the gesso was sanded away, and the nail holes show through. The nakedness of the wood reflects how our lives have been stripped down to the simple things in some ways. The earring represents the fact that we still are blessed and even in our restricted, quarantined lives, if we and the ones we love are healthy, we are still more blessed than much of the world.