Mary Becker
The Last Stand: Alone
Frozen Charlottes, Porcelain, Found Objects, Wood, Paint
7" X 2 1/4" X 2"
2020
While in quarantine, Becker began researching historical pandemic-wear. Scenes with quirky figures wearing the strange birdlike gear the plague doctors wore popped out. These were followed by dozens of amulets of plague masked figures protected by charms & religious imagery.
Deep into Covid, as the government fumbled any organized recovery, Becker began to despair. We knew vaccines were coming which made the November/December death numbers an agony to witness.
Becker's making darkened into creatures with extremely elaborate pandemic masks. Alone or in groups they grappled daily with survival as Covid victims perished all over the world.