Covid Special Project

Beginning in May 2020, I have been working on a series of portraits of individuals who died in the Covid pandemic. My source images here are drawn from photographs submitted by families to accompany the obituaries of their loved ones published by The New York Times under the heading “Those We’ve Lost.” I transform each source by cropping it to a square headshot then painting the portrait using a technique of black India ink and water painted on the surface of translucent waxed rice paper.

Painting each portrait reanimates the liveliness and spirit in each face. In their specificity, the portraits offer an experience that allows you to feel the common humanity of our experience.