I created this piece in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic while isolating in our small Brooklyn apartment. The air was thick with both anxiety and the strange excitement of navigating daily life without leaving home. Despite the shadow of sickness and death over the city, we clung to the glimmer of hope that normalcy would soon return. Each evening at 7 PM, a brief moment of human interaction occurred when we would open the window and join our neighbors in a chorus of banging pots and pans to show support for the first responders and essential workers risking everything on the front lines.
This mask embodies the fragile glimmer of hope and naivety I clung to during this period. The base, crafted from black hand-torn lace, symbolizes how my old life was abruptly torn away. Adorned with tiny black sequins and half-pearls, it reflects my search for beauty amidst the chaos.
