Port Warwick Party

Pandemic Portraits is a series investigating companionship and social conventions in the COVID era. Masks and social distancing have become the new norm. People are advised to stay home, isolate, and avoid interacting with people outside of their own households. Humans have an innate need to connect with others, and that connection can give us comfort, especially during stressful times. Outdoor gatherings have become the safest way to do so. These portraits are of friends or people I have met in my community while socializing outdoors. I have found myself making introductions to strangers to ask if I can take their photos for reference for paintings. People have been surprisingly open to becoming one of my subjects and welcome me to take their picture. I always invite them to follow my Instagram page for progress updates. I have made some lasting connections as they see the paintings come to life through social media. Jordan Casteel is an artist that has influenced my paintings. Her portraits reveal a sense of the artist’s connection with the subject and that is something I try to convey in my own work. Connection has become something harder to attain nowadays but we still find ways to achieve it because it is in our nature. [Artist Symposium page]https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/undergradsymposium_artgallery/1059/thumbnail.jp