personal Protective

personal Protective

Yerby, Kyle

Artist Statement: These acrylic paintings depict the dark intensity of falling in love through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before Coronavirus arrived in Missouri in 2020, gloves and masks were only used in health care & food service, but not usually in everyday life. Before the pandemic, it was easy to take touch for granted, but now out of fear we shield ourselves from what we crave. The mask has become a controversial image—those who deny the pandemic feel as though they are being silenced, and those who accept the pandemic feel unseen. Because of the mask, communication i s much more difficult and the message is sometimes lost. When we are finally allowed to be near one another, we only half l et our guard down: behind plastic shields, cloth masks, and gloves.

2021

Rights held by author.

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