Original artwork description:

This is a series of works made during lockdown reflecting the all the preoccupations and yearnings of this strange time. These hand cut paper relief collages are framed in vintage Clark's (a Bristol institution) pie tins that I have customised.

Plague Doctor 1: With the initial avian associations of this strange and unfamiliar new word 'Covid' (corvid?) and the sudden appearance of masked faces everywhere we looked, at the beginning of the first lockdown in the UK it was hard not to think of the famous beaked outfits of the plague doctors of the 17th century. In looking at images of these bizarre figures, as with the current epidemic, it is difficult to remind onesself that there are humans behind the masks and that, as absurd or as terrifying as the protective accessories seem, they are for a noble cause. Often filled with herbs, the plague doctor beak masks also link with our lockdown obsessions with gardening, foraging and a growing sense of the importance of connecting with nature, if only for our mental wellbeing.

Materials used:

handcut paper relief collage in vintage pie tin - 14 x 9.5 cm (approx) oval - £200

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