Pandemic Paintings
Michele Banks
All the pieces here were made between March and July 2020, so they were all shaped by the extraordinary events of the past few months. The beginning of 2020 was marked by a growing anxiety about the pandemic which was taking shape in Asia and Europe. Life went on somewhat normally here in DC, except for the swelling sense that the pandemic would soon arrive here and that we were not prepared. All I could think about was coronavirus, so that’s what I painted dozens of ink paintings of the pathogen that was suddenly the focus of the whole world’s attention. When lockdown was imposed in mid-March, normal life came to an abrupt halt. All my art exhibitions, science meetings and trips were canceled. I stayed home as instructed, only going out for long daily walks around my neighborhood. I’ve lived in DC for more than 20 years, and this was the first year I was unable to see the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin. Fortunately, there are some cherry trees in Rose Park, near my home. And by visiting those trees daily, instead of seeing a dramatic, once-a-year show, I witnessed the gradual transformation of the trees, from bare branches to buds to blossoms to fruit – tiny, inedible cherries, but fruit nonetheless! The tree paintings reflect this loss and gain: the trees under strain, but standing, flowering, producing; the roots digging deep and seeking nourishment and connection. The Mandala, Vessel, and Connectome paintings explore similar themes enclosure, isolation and connection expressed as neurons, blood vessels, roots and branches, and the patterns of contact-tracing diagrams. And then, into this time of anxiety and isolation but also of quiet contemplation, came the murder of George Floyd, unleashing a torrent of rage and grief across the country and through my city. The Trauma Brain paintings are a piece of my response to the other epidemic we confronted this year – police brutality. Finally, as the epidemic worsened in the US, I painted “Covid Lungs,” which is a sad, simple reflection on illness and death.
