Solidarity & Stoicism Series 

And The Oscar Goes To…, 2022
Digital illustration collage, original print archival ink on paper

9in x 12in edition of 100
16in x 20in edition of 100

I was livid sitting at home, watching nurses struggle with paper bagging their single N95 masks for reuse, day in and day out, while the US were shipping N95 stock piles out of the county to turn a profit. Seeing these precious resources gifted to politicians while being told this virus was not airborne was a slap in the face to our trash bag wearing nurses. I think about that a lot. How we forced those in professions we deemed essential to work in unsafe conditions, unprotected, risking their lives, without even giving them the choice or option to stay safe or stay home. There’s a difference in being forced to do something and choosing to do something based on the information provided. Of course, we are still at the dawn of the age of informed consent… as I was creating this work, I was also watching the Russian takeover of Chernobyl. The Ukrainian night shift workers, though forced to stay, were well aware of the risks involved. They could have chosen not to be woken up every few hours to ensure their specialized job was completed for everyone’s safety. During the original nuclear crisis at Chernobyl, volunteers were asked to risk their lives, they had given their informed consent, sacrificing themselves for the greater good. Our nurses along with our essential workers, were not given such a luxury. Hospitals penalized nurses for speaking out on working conditions while our government taxed them for failing to meet their loan repayment requirements, because hospitals were choosing to run at bare bones staffing levels, padding their profit margins at the expense of public health. Customers berated customers, spitting, fighting and screaming into their unprotected faces, putting their uninsured lives at risk, while the corporations that cracked the whip at them, forced them to carry on as if they weren’t risking their lives and the lives of their families at work everyday. The abuses those deemed essential were forced to endure— Its heart wrenching. 

Subject matter - An illustrated golden cracked half face wearing a medical grade N95 respirator floats above its detached lapel tuxedo vest. In the background, an transparent orange circle highlights snippets of text. Snippets include documents titled Government Accountability Oversight “GAO-08-108T, a testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation on High-Containment Biosafety Laboratories (2007), Comprehensive and Up-To-Date Policies And Stronger Oversight Mechanisms To Improve Safety. As well as Biological Select Agents and Toxins; Actions Needed to Improve Management of DOD's Biosafety and Biosecurity Program (2018). A snippet of a journal publication from ‘Science of the Total Environment 750 (2021) 141711’ titled “SARS-CoV-2 has been circulating in northern Italy since December 2019: Evidence from environmental monitoring”. 

Details: 

• Unframed digital illustration original print on thick matte poster paper.
• Allow 2-3 days for processing and 5-10 days for delivery
• Shipped in a flat mailer or rolled tube
• Artist signed Certificate Of Authenticity will be mailed separately, pending delivery confirmation
• All artworks are non-refundable, exchanges will be made in regards to damaged print quality, and shipping errors